VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0.

Izmir or Sarajevo?

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
  • day trips
  • families

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

Choose Sarajevo for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Sarajevo’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, Sarajevo 6: Izmir leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Sarajevo 60: Izmir leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Sarajevo 64: Sarajevo leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Sarajevo 44: Izmir leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Sarajevo 78: Sarajevo leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Sarajevo 62: Izmir leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Sarajevo 38: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Sarajevo 60: Izmir leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Sarajevo 40: Izmir leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Sarajevo 80: Sarajevo leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Sarajevo 40: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Sarajevo 42: Izmir leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Sarajevo.

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

Sarajevo
51match

Wins on prices 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

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirSarajevo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirSarajevo
Official languageTurkishCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Convertible Mark (BAM)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation2 m518 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirSarajevo
City population4,493,242275,524
People per km²4,7601,947
Museums within 10 km2925
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Sarajevo 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.