VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
ToulouseThe Basilica of Saint-Sernin

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Toulouse by ZbebVial, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Istanbul or Toulouse?

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
  • beaches

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

Choose Toulouse for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Toulouse’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, Toulouse 10: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Toulouse 66: Istanbul leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Toulouse 64: Istanbul leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Toulouse 56: Istanbul leads by 21 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Toulouse 58: Toulouse leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Toulouse 72: Toulouse leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Toulouse 62: Toulouse leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Toulouse 70: Toulouse leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Toulouse 50: Istanbul leads by 36 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Toulouse 46: Istanbul leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Toulouse 58: Istanbul leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Toulouse 27: Istanbul leads by 48 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Toulouse
53match

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

Toulouse in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulToulouse

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Toulouse: 1991-2020 normals, Toulouse / Blagnac (7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulToulouse
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 m115 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsToulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)7 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulToulouse
City population15,655,924514,819
People per km²2,9304,352
Museums within 10 km7324
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 Toulouse 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.