VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Helsinki or Izmir?

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 Helsinki for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Izmir for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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. Helsinki 28, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Izmir 55: Helsinki leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Izmir 55: Helsinki leads by 21 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Izmir 63: Helsinki leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Izmir 55: Helsinki leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Izmir 48: Helsinki leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Izmir 57: Helsinki leads by 25 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Helsinki and Izmir.

Your match

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

Helsinki
59match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Helsinki in July

22 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiIzmir
Official languageFinnish, SwedishTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation17 m2 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiIzmir
City population694,3924,493,242
People per km²3,2394,760
Museums within 10 km7429
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Helsinki or Izmir 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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. 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.