VacationSelector
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Honolulu or Philadelphia?

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 Honolulu for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • live music and the arts
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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. Honolulu 91, Philadelphia 36: Honolulu leads by 55 points.
Food & drink. Honolulu 70, Philadelphia 62: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Honolulu 55, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Honolulu 45, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Honolulu 88, Philadelphia 52: Honolulu leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Honolulu 38, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Honolulu 80, Philadelphia 68: Honolulu leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Honolulu 52, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Honolulu 60, Philadelphia 57: Honolulu leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Honolulu 15, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Honolulu 40, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Honolulu 50, Philadelphia 26: Honolulu leads by 24 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Honolulu
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HonoluluPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHonoluluPhiladelphia
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-10UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m12 m
Main airportDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureHonoluluPhiladelphia
City population350,9641,603,797
People per km²1,9814,339
Museums within 10 km1254
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Honolulu or Philadelphia 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.