VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
Vilnius Cathedral, Vilnius
VilniusVilnius Cathedral

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Vilnius by Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Istanbul or Vilnius?

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

  • shopping
  • wellness
  • food and drink

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

Choose Vilnius for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Vilnius’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, Vilnius 17: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Vilnius 50: Istanbul leads by 37 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Vilnius 66: Istanbul leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Vilnius 46: Istanbul leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul and Vilnius are level on 52.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Vilnius 60: Vilnius leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Vilnius 44: Istanbul leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Vilnius 68: Vilnius leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Vilnius 38: Istanbul leads by 48 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Vilnius 64: Vilnius leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Vilnius 54: Istanbul leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Vilnius 34: Istanbul leads by 41 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on shopping and wellness with your weighting.

Vilnius
49match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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

Vilnius in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
90 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulVilnius

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Vilnius: 1991-2020 normals, Vilnius (13 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulVilnius
Official languageTurkishLithuanian
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation100 m98 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsVilnius International Airport (VNO)6 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulVilnius
City population15,655,924619,405
People per km²2,9301,545
Museums within 10 km7331
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
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 Vilnius 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.