VacationSelector
The Cloth Hall on the Main Square, Krakow
KrakowThe Cloth Hall on the Main Square
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Krakow by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Krakow 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 Krakow for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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. Krakow 9, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Krakow 55, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Krakow 77, Philadelphia 72: Krakow leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Krakow 68, Philadelphia 55: Krakow leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Krakow 62, Philadelphia 52: Krakow leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Krakow 76, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Krakow 58, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Krakow 74, Philadelphia 66: Krakow leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Krakow 48, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Krakow 72, Philadelphia 40: Krakow leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Krakow 55, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Krakow 36, Philadelphia 26: Krakow leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Krakow
58match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Krakow in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
100 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
16 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
KrakowPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Krakow: 1991-2020 normals, Krakow (10.1 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKrakowPhiladelphia
Official languagePolish-
CurrencyZloty (PLN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation219 m12 m
Main airportKraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK)11 km from centre132 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureKrakowPhiladelphia
City population804,2371,603,797
People per km²2,4594,339
Museums within 10 km11354
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Krakow 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). 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.