VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Izmir or Santa Monica?

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

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • day trips

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • families
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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 Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Santa Monica 60: Izmir leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Santa Monica 35: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Santa Monica 38: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Santa Monica 64: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Santa Monica 52: Izmir leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Santa Monica 14: Izmir leads by 52 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Santa Monica 38: Izmir leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Santa Monica 45: Izmir leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Santa Monica
51match

Wins on families 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

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirSanta Monica
Official languageTurkish-
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation2 m32 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirSanta Monica
City population4,493,24293,076
People per km²4,7604,270
Museums within 10 km2919
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Izmir or Santa Monica 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.