VacationSelector
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Johannesburg by K, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Johannesburg 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 Johannesburg for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

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. Johannesburg 5, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Johannesburg 58, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Johannesburg 56, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Johannesburg 62, Philadelphia 55: Johannesburg leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Johannesburg 55, Philadelphia 52: Johannesburg leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Johannesburg 52, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Johannesburg 42, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Johannesburg 18, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Johannesburg 58, Philadelphia 57: Johannesburg leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Johannesburg 72, Philadelphia 40: Johannesburg leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Johannesburg 55, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Johannesburg 28, Philadelphia 26: Johannesburg leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Johannesburg and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
JohannesburgPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJohannesburgPhiladelphia
Official languageEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language-
CurrencyRand (ZAR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCMN230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+2UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation1,753 m12 m
Main airportO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureJohannesburgPhiladelphia
City population4,803,2621,603,797
People per km²2,9224,339
Museums within 10 km1454
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Johannesburg 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.