VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The tusks over Moi Avenue, Mombasa
MombasaThe tusks over Moi Avenue

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Izmir or Mombasa?

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

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Mombasa for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’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, Mombasa 82: Mombasa leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Mombasa 60: Izmir leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir and Mombasa are level on 55.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Mombasa 46: Izmir leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Mombasa 74: Mombasa leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Mombasa 45: Izmir leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Mombasa 45: Izmir leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Mombasa 30: Izmir leads by 33 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Mombasa 35: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Mombasa 70: Mombasa leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Mombasa 22: Izmir leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Mombasa 40: Izmir leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Mombasa.

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Mombasa
50match

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.

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

Mombasa in July

28 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
63 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirMombasa

Where the figures come from

Mombasa has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirMombasa
Official languageTurkishEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation2 m50 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsMoi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirMombasa
City population4,493,2421,208,333
People per km²4,7604,100
Museums within 10 km290
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Izmir or Mombasa 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.