VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
The Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb
ZagrebThe Croatian National Theatre

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Zagreb by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Hamburg or Zagreb?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Hamburg for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Hamburg’s own page.

Choose Zagreb for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Zagreb’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Hamburg 28, Zagreb 10: Hamburg leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg and Zagreb are level on 55.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Zagreb 56: Hamburg leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Zagreb 47: Hamburg leads by 29 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Zagreb 62: Zagreb leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Zagreb 60: Hamburg leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Zagreb 52: Hamburg leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Zagreb 70: Hamburg leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Zagreb 40: Hamburg leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Zagreb 52: Hamburg leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Zagreb 33: Hamburg leads by 11 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Zagreb.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Hamburg
Best match
60match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Zagreb
50match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Hamburg in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 hdaylight a day

Zagreb in July

29 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgZagreb

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hamburg: 1991-2020 normals, Hamburg Airport (9.3 km from centre). Zagreb: 1991-2020 normals, Zagreb / Gric (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHamburgZagreb
Official languageGermanCroatian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m127 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsZagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG)11 km from centre64 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgZagreb
City population1,869,473767,131
People per km²2,476-
Museums within 10 km7727
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hamburg or Zagreb somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.