Photos: Havana by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Havana or Santiago?
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 Havana for
- beaches
- culture and sights
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on Havana’s own page.
Choose Santiago for
- nature and the outdoors
- day trips
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Havana and Santiago.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.
Havana in July
Santiago in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Havana has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Havana: 1991-2020 normals, Casa Blanca, La Habana (3.5 km from centre). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Havana | Santiago |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish | Spanish |
| Currency | Cuban Peso (CUP) | Chilean Peso (CLP) |
| Sockets | AB110 V, 60 Hz | CL220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer | UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 106, ambulance 104, fire 105 | Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132 |
| Elevation | 59 m | 575 m |
| Main airport | José Martí International Airport (HAV)17 km from centre21 non-stop destinations | Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 9 days | 16 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Havana | Santiago |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 2,492,618 | 6,257,516 |
| People per km² | 3,423 | 7,468 |
| Museums within 10 km | 12 | 54 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Havana or Santiago somewhere new.