Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Sharm el-Sheikh by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Istanbul or Sharm el-Sheikh?
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
- culture and sights
- shopping
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on Istanbul’s own page.
Choose Sharm el-Sheikh for
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Sharm el-Sheikh’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Istanbul and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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
Sharm el-Sheikh in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Sharm el-Sheikh has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Sharm el-Sheikh: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Istanbul | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Turkish | Arabic |
| Currency | Turkish Lira (TRY) | Egyptian Pound (EGP) |
| Sockets | CF230 V, 50 Hz | CF220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+3 | UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180 |
| Elevation | 100 m | 1 m |
| Main airport | İstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations | Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH)16 km from centre112 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days | 15 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Istanbul | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 15,655,924 | 73,000 |
| People per km² | 2,930 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 73 | 1 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 3 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul or Sharm el-Sheikh somewhere new.