VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License.

Izmir or Madrid?

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 Izmir for

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • prices

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

Choose Madrid for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Madrid’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. Izmir 62, Madrid 5: Izmir leads by 57 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Madrid 80: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Madrid 86: Madrid leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Madrid 85: Madrid leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Madrid 60: Izmir leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Madrid 89: Madrid leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Madrid 68: Madrid leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Madrid 84: Madrid leads by 21 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Madrid 75: Madrid leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Madrid 50: Izmir leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Madrid 77: Madrid leads by 29 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Madrid 36: Izmir leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Madrid.

Your match

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

Izmir
62match

Wins on beaches and wellness with your weighting.

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirMadrid

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirMadrid
Official languageTurkishSpanish
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation2 m663 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirMadrid
City population4,493,2423,506,730
People per km²4,7605,801
Museums within 10 km2988
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km04
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Izmir or Madrid 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.