VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Helsinki or Santa Marta?

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
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 42 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Santa Marta 44: Helsinki leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Santa Marta 34: Helsinki leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki and Santa Marta are level on 50.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Santa Marta 38: Helsinki leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Santa Marta 40: Helsinki leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Santa Marta 38: Helsinki leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Santa Marta 27: Helsinki leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 50 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Santa Marta 17: Helsinki leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Santa Marta 30: Helsinki leads by 52 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Helsinki
Best match
59match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiSanta Marta
Official languageFinnish, SwedishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation17 m8 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiSanta Marta
City population694,392505,915
People per km²3,2391,723
Museums within 10 km743
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Helsinki or Santa Marta 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.