VacationSelector
The golden Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
JerusalemThe golden Dome of the Rock
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Jerusalem by Yasir Gürbüz, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Jerusalem or Philadelphia?

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
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Jerusalem leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Jerusalem 66, Philadelphia 62: Jerusalem leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Jerusalem 92, Philadelphia 72: Jerusalem leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Jerusalem 38, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Jerusalem 60, Philadelphia 52: Jerusalem leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Jerusalem and Philadelphia are level on 80.
Good for families. Jerusalem 52, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Jerusalem 55, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Jerusalem 48, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Jerusalem 20, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Jerusalem 40, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Jerusalem 42, Philadelphia 26: Jerusalem leads by 16 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Jerusalem and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Jerusalem
53match

Wins on culture and sights and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on live music and the arts 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.

Jerusalem in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
JerusalemPhiladelphia

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Jerusalem: 1991-2020 normals, Jerusalem (1.8 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJerusalemPhiladelphia
Official languageHebrew-
CurrencyNew Israeli Sheqel (ILS)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCHM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 100, fire 102911
Elevation754 m12 m
Main airportBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)42 km from centre111 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureJerusalemPhiladelphia
City population1,050,1511,603,797
People per km²8,3744,339
Museums within 10 km6954
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km71
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 Philadelphia 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.