VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Izmir or Santa Marta?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Santa Marta 44: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Santa Marta 34: Izmir leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Santa Marta 50: Izmir leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Santa Marta 38: Izmir leads by 48 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Santa Marta 40: Izmir leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Santa Marta 38: Izmir leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Santa Marta 27: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Santa Marta 17: Izmir leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Santa Marta 30: Izmir leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Santa Marta.

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices 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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirSanta Marta
Official languageTurkishSpanish
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation2 m8 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirSanta Marta
City population4,493,242505,915
People per km²4,7601,723
Museums within 10 km293
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Santa Marta 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.