VacationSelector
The pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto
KyotoThe pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo

Photos: Kyoto by Bert Mulder, Pexels License; Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License.

Kyoto or Mexico City?

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 Kyoto for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • day trips

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

Choose Mexico City for

  • nightlife
  • prices
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Mexico City’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. Kyoto 15, Mexico City 5: Kyoto leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Kyoto 85, Mexico City 90: Mexico City leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Kyoto 96, Mexico City 88: Kyoto leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Kyoto 35, Mexico City 80: Mexico City leads by 45 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kyoto 70, Mexico City 50: Kyoto leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Kyoto 96, Mexico City 75: Kyoto leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Kyoto 68, Mexico City 58: Kyoto leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Kyoto 72, Mexico City 50: Kyoto leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Kyoto 72, Mexico City 76: Mexico City leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Kyoto 50, Mexico City 75: Mexico City leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kyoto 60, Mexico City 72: Mexico City leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kyoto 70, Mexico City 40: Kyoto leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kyoto and Mexico City.

Your match

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

Kyoto
Best match
66match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

Mexico City
63match

Wins on nightlife 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.

Kyoto in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
225 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
KyotoMexico City

Where the figures come from

Kyoto's sunshine is measured 43 km from the centre, at Osaka.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kyoto: 1971-2000 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Kyoto (3.2 km from centre). Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKyotoMexico City
Official languageJapaneseSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyYen (JPY)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119911
Elevation51 m2,240 m
Main airportKansai International Airport (KIX)81 km from centre62 non-stop destinationsMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureKyotoMexico City
City population1,463,7239,209,944
People per km²1,7686,202
Museums within 10 km77108
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km46
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kyoto or Mexico City somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). 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.