VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace, Split
SplitThe Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Split by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Helsinki or Split?

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
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Split for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Split’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, Split 75: Split leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Split 57: Split leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Split 66: Split leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Split 52: Split leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Split 77: Split leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Split 78: Split leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Split 54: Helsinki leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Split 67: Helsinki leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Split 32: Helsinki leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Split 45: Split leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Split 37: Helsinki leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Split 40: Helsinki leads by 42 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Helsinki
59match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

Split
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Split in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
25 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiSplit

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Split: 1991-2020 normals, Split / Marjan (0.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiSplit
Official languageFinnish, SwedishCroatian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation17 m0 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsSplit Saint Jerome Airport (SPU)12 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiSplit
City population694,392160,577
People per km²3,239-
Museums within 10 km7411
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km14
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone4 months

Where else could you go?

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