VacationSelector
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
San FranciscoThe Golden Gate Bridge

Photos: Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License; San Francisco by Elijah Cobb, Pexels License.

Honolulu or San Francisco?

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
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose San Francisco for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on San Francisco’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, San Francisco 25: Honolulu leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Honolulu 70, San Francisco 82: San Francisco leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Honolulu 55, San Francisco 68: San Francisco leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Honolulu 45, San Francisco 58: San Francisco leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Honolulu 88, San Francisco 80: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Honolulu 38, San Francisco 72: San Francisco leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Honolulu 80, San Francisco 66: Honolulu leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Honolulu 52, San Francisco 70: San Francisco leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Honolulu 60, San Francisco 58: Honolulu leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Honolulu 15, San Francisco 14: Honolulu leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Honolulu 40, San Francisco 76: San Francisco leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Honolulu 50, San Francisco 42: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Honolulu
57match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

San Francisco
59match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips 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
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

San Francisco in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
13 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
HonoluluSan Francisco

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre). San Francisco: 1981-2010 normals, Alameda Naval Air Station (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHonoluluSan Francisco
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-10UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m16 m
Main airportDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsSan Francisco International Airport (SFO)18 km from centre142 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureHonoluluSan Francisco
City population350,964873,965
People per km²1,9811,455
Museums within 10 km1251
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Honolulu or San Francisco 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.