VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The beach promenade in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv
Tel AvivThe beach promenade in Tel Aviv

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Tel Aviv by israeltourism, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Helsinki or Tel Aviv?

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
  • prices

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

Choose Tel Aviv for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Tel Aviv’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, Tel Aviv 86: Tel Aviv leads by 58 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Tel Aviv 80: Tel Aviv leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Tel Aviv 57: Helsinki leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Tel Aviv 82: Tel Aviv leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Tel Aviv 52: Helsinki leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Tel Aviv 84: Tel Aviv leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Tel Aviv 68: Helsinki leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Tel Aviv 64: Helsinki leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Tel Aviv 55: Helsinki leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Tel Aviv 14: Helsinki leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Tel Aviv 70: Tel Aviv leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Tel Aviv 35: Helsinki leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Helsinki and Tel Aviv.

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.

Tel Aviv
Best match
62match

Wins on beaches and nightlife 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

Tel Aviv in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiTel Aviv

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Tel Aviv: 1991-2020 normals, Bet Dagan (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiTel Aviv
Official languageFinnish, SwedishHebrew
CurrencyEuro (EUR)New Israeli Sheqel (ILS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCHM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 100, fire 102
Elevation17 m5 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)13 km from centre111 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days-

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiTel Aviv
City population694,392467,875
People per km²3,2398,998
Museums within 10 km7498
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone7 months

Where else could you go?

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