VacationSelector
The Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church, Ljubljana
LjubljanaThe Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Ljubljana by detait, Pexels License; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Ljubljana or Santa Monica?

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 Ljubljana for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • shopping
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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. Ljubljana 22, Santa Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Ljubljana 55, Santa Monica 60: Santa Monica leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Ljubljana 55, Santa Monica 35: Ljubljana leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Ljubljana 40, Santa Monica 38: Ljubljana leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Ljubljana 80, Santa Monica 72: Ljubljana leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Ljubljana 78, Santa Monica 64: Ljubljana leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Ljubljana 54, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Ljubljana 74, Santa Monica 52: Ljubljana leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Ljubljana 33, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Ljubljana 54, Santa Monica 14: Ljubljana leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Ljubljana 50, Santa Monica 38: Ljubljana leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Ljubljana 42, Santa Monica 45: Santa Monica leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Ljubljana and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Ljubljana
53match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

Santa Monica
51match

Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Ljubljana in July

28 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
121 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
LjubljanaSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Ljubljana: 1991-2020 normals, Ljubljana / Bezigrad (1.9 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLjubljanaSanta Monica
Official languageSlovene-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation309 m32 m
Main airportLjubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU)20 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureLjubljanaSanta Monica
City population284,29393,076
People per km²1,7364,270
Museums within 10 km1419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ljubljana or Santa Monica 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.