VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Istanbul or Philadelphia?

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
  • food and drink

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Istanbul leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Philadelphia 62: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Philadelphia 72: Istanbul leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Philadelphia 55: Istanbul leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul and Philadelphia are level on 52.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Philadelphia 57: Istanbul leads by 29 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Philadelphia 40: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Philadelphia 26: Istanbul leads by 49 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips and families 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulPhiladelphia
Official languageTurkish-
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation100 m12 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulPhiladelphia
City population15,655,9241,603,797
People per km²2,9304,339
Museums within 10 km7354
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Philadelphia 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.