VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License.

Istanbul or Madrid?

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

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • shopping

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

Choose Madrid for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Madrid’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, Madrid 5: Istanbul leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Madrid 80: Istanbul leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Madrid 86: Istanbul leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Madrid 85: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Madrid 60: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Madrid 89: Madrid leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Madrid 68: Madrid leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Madrid 84: Madrid leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Madrid 75: Istanbul leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Madrid 50: Istanbul leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Madrid 77: Madrid leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Madrid 36: Istanbul leads by 39 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Istanbul
67match

Wins on beaches and wellness with your weighting.

Madrid
66match

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

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulMadrid

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulMadrid
Official languageTurkishSpanish
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation100 m663 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulMadrid
City population15,655,9243,506,730
People per km²2,9305,801
Museums within 10 km7388
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 Madrid 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.