VacationSelector
The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Hanoi or Xi'an?

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 Hanoi for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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. Hanoi 6, Xi'an 4: Hanoi leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Hanoi 85, Xi'an 70: Hanoi leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Hanoi 72, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Hanoi 50, Xi'an 42: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hanoi 52, Xi'an 62: Xi'an leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Hanoi 58, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Hanoi 35, Xi'an 48: Xi'an leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Hanoi 36, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Hanoi and Xi'an are level on 50.
Affordability. Hanoi 98, Xi'an 80: Hanoi leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hanoi and Xi'an are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Hanoi 46, Xi'an 40: Hanoi leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hanoi and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Hanoi
52match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
HanoiXi'an

Where the figures come from

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHanoiXi'an
Official languageVietnamesePutonghua
CurrencyDong (VND)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsACFG220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 113, ambulance 115, fire 114Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation10 m405 m
Main airportNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureHanoiXi'an
City population8,717,60012,952,907
People per km²2,5951,283
Museums within 10 km149
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hanoi or Xi'an 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.