VacationSelector
The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
LimaThe fountain on Plaza Mayor
Vine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley, Mendoza
MendozaVine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley

Photos: Lima by James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Mendoza by David, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Lima or Mendoza?

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 Lima for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Mendoza for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Mendoza’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. Lima 42, Mendoza 6: Lima leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Lima 88, Mendoza 68: Lima leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Lima 66, Mendoza 30: Lima leads by 36 points.
Nightlife. Lima 62, Mendoza 40: Lima leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lima 45, Mendoza 83: Mendoza leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Lima 34, Mendoza 52: Mendoza leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Lima and Mendoza are level on 42.
Getting around. Lima 35, Mendoza 48: Mendoza leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Lima 52, Mendoza 33: Lima leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Lima 70, Mendoza 56: Lima leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lima 53, Mendoza 33: Lima leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lima 25, Mendoza 55: Mendoza leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Lima and Mendoza.

Your match

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

Lima
Best match
51match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.

Mendoza
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Lima in July

19 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
1 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Mendoza in July

15 °Cdaytime high
2 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

01020304050JFMAMJJASOND
LimaMendoza

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre). Mendoza: 1991-2020 normals, Mendoza Aerodrome (8.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLimaMendoza
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaSpanish
CurrencySol (PEN)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-3
Emergency number111 or 911117 or 911
Elevation154 m769 m
Main airportJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinationsGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ)8 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureLimaMendoza
City population9,943,800127,160
People per km²3,7212,355
Museums within 10 km471
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C2 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Lima or Mendoza 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.