VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Istanbul or Lyon?

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
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Lyon for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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, Lyon 12: Istanbul leads by 33 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Lyon 84: Istanbul leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Lyon 77: Istanbul leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Lyon 58: Istanbul leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Lyon 64: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Lyon 62: Lyon leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Lyon 58: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Lyon 42: Istanbul leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Lyon 68: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Lyon 40: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
0255075100

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

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 beaches with your weighting.

Lyon
60match

Wins on day trips and getting around 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

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulLyon
Official languageTurkishFrench
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation100 m160 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulLyon
City population15,655,924519,127
People per km²2,93010,838
Museums within 10 km7343
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
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 Lyon 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.