VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
Half-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France, Strasbourg
StrasbourgHalf-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Strasbourg by Edoardo Colombo, Pexels License.

Istanbul or Strasbourg?

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

  • nightlife
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Strasbourg for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Strasbourg’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, Strasbourg 10: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Strasbourg 66: Istanbul leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Strasbourg 70: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Strasbourg 40: Istanbul leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Strasbourg 62: Strasbourg leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Strasbourg 80: Strasbourg leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Strasbourg 66: Strasbourg leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Strasbourg 79: Strasbourg leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Strasbourg 52: Istanbul leads by 34 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Strasbourg 44: Istanbul leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Strasbourg 56: Istanbul leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Strasbourg 55: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on nightlife and beaches with your weighting.

Strasbourg
57match

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

Strasbourg in July

26 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulStrasbourg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Strasbourg: 1991-2020 normals, Strasbourg (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulStrasbourg
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 m132 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsStrasbourg Airport (SXB)10 km from centre43 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulStrasbourg
City population15,655,924293,771
People per km²2,9303,752
Museums within 10 km7321
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 Strasbourg 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.