VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
Big Ben and Westminster Bridge, London
LondonBig Ben and Westminster Bridge

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; London by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Istanbul or London?

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

  • prices
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose London for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on London’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, London 25: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, London 84: Istanbul leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, London 94: London leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, London 88: London leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, London 57: London leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, London 90: London leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, London 82: London leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, London 85: London leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, London 95: London leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, London 15: Istanbul leads by 45 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, London 98: London leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, London 40: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Istanbul
67match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

London
Best match
71match

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.

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

London in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
46 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulLondon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). London: 1992-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, London Weather Centre (1.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulLondon
Official languageTurkishEnglish
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Pound Sterling (GBP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number112112 or 999
Elevation100 m4 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsLondon Heathrow Airport (LHR)23 km from centre224 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulLondon
City population15,655,9248,799,728
People per km²2,9305,598
Museums within 10 km73216
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km14
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months-

Where else could you go?

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