VacationSelector
The golden Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
JerusalemThe golden Dome of the Rock
Botero sculptures on Plaza Botero, Medellin
MedellinBotero sculptures on Plaza Botero

Photos: Jerusalem by Yasir Gürbüz, Pexels License; Medellin by Steffen Schmitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Jerusalem or Medellin?

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 Jerusalem for

  • culture and sights
  • beaches
  • day trips

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

Choose Medellin for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Medellin’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. Jerusalem 40, Medellin 5: Jerusalem leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Jerusalem 66, Medellin 58: Jerusalem leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Jerusalem 92, Medellin 42: Jerusalem leads by 50 points.
Nightlife. Jerusalem 38, Medellin 76: Medellin leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Jerusalem 60, Medellin 66: Medellin leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Jerusalem 80, Medellin 58: Jerusalem leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Jerusalem 52, Medellin 50: Jerusalem leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Jerusalem and Medellin are level on 55.
Shopping & style. Jerusalem 48, Medellin 45: Jerusalem leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Jerusalem 20, Medellin 80: Medellin leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. Jerusalem 40, Medellin 42: Medellin leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Jerusalem 42, Medellin 30: Jerusalem leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Jerusalem and Medellin.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Jerusalem
53match

Wins on culture and sights and beaches with your weighting.

Medellin
51match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Jerusalem in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Medellin in July

29 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
133 mmrain in the month
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
JerusalemMedellin

Where the figures come from

Jerusalem 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.

Medellin 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. Jerusalem: 1991-2020 normals, Jerusalem (1.8 km from centre). Medellin: 1958-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Medellin / Olaya Herrera (5.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJerusalemMedellin
Official languageHebrewSpanish
CurrencyNew Israeli Sheqel (ILS)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCHM230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 100, fire 102123
Elevation754 m1,405 m
Main airportBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)42 km from centre111 non-stop destinationsJose Maria Córdova International Airport (MDE)19 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-19 days

By the numbers

MeasureJerusalemMedellin
City population1,050,1512,529,403
People per km²8,3746,644
Museums within 10 km6914
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km70
Swim season, months above 21 °C7 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Jerusalem or Medellin 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.