VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Helsinki or Lyon?

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
  • beaches
  • families

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

Choose Lyon for

  • food and drink
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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, Lyon 12: Helsinki leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Lyon 84: Lyon leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Lyon 64: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Lyon 62: Helsinki leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Lyon 77: Helsinki leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Lyon 58: Helsinki leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Lyon 42: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Lyon 68: Lyon leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Lyon 40: Helsinki leads by 42 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Helsinki
59match

Wins on wellness and beaches with your weighting.

Lyon
60match

Wins on food and drink and culture and sights 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

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiLyon
Official languageFinnish, SwedishFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation17 m160 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiLyon
City population694,392519,127
People per km²3,23910,838
Museums within 10 km7443
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Helsinki or Lyon 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. 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.