VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
LimaThe fountain on Plaza Mayor

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Lima by James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Istanbul or Lima?

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 Istanbul for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • getting around

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

Choose Lima for

  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Lima’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. Istanbul 45, Lima 42: Istanbul leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Lima 88: Lima leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Lima 66: Istanbul leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Lima 62: Istanbul leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Lima 45: Istanbul leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Lima 34: Istanbul leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Lima 42: Istanbul leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Lima 35: Istanbul leads by 27 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Lima 52: Istanbul leads by 34 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Lima 70: Lima leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Lima 53: Istanbul leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Lima 25: Istanbul leads by 50 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

Lima
51match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Lima in July

19 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
1 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulLima

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulLima
Official languageTurkishSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Sol (PEN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5
Emergency number112111 or 911
Elevation100 m154 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulLima
City population15,655,9249,943,800
People per km²2,9303,721
Museums within 10 km7347
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul or Lima 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). 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.