VacationSelector
The Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
JakartaThe Istiqlal Mosque
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Jakarta by Antonyus Bunjamin, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Jakarta or Shanghai?

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 Jakarta for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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. Jakarta 28, Shanghai 10: Jakarta leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Jakarta 78, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Jakarta 48, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Jakarta 66, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Jakarta 30, Shanghai 25: Jakarta leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Jakarta 45, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Jakarta 50, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Jakarta 36, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 49 points.
Shopping & style. Jakarta 64, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Jakarta 80, Shanghai 55: Jakarta leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Jakarta 42, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 24 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Jakarta 46, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 9 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Jakarta and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Jakarta
51match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Jakarta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
JakartaShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Jakarta: 1991-2020 normals, Jakarta / Observatory (1.1 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJakartaShanghai
Official languageIndonesianPutonghua
CurrencyRupiah (IDR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation91 m4 m
Main airportSoekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)20 km from centre89 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureJakartaShanghai
City population11,135,19124,870,895
People per km²16,8213,922
Museums within 10 km4445
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Jakarta or Shanghai 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.