VacationSelector
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles
Los AngelesThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: Los Angeles by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Los Angeles or Thessaloniki?

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 Los Angeles for

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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. Los Angeles 60, Thessaloniki 55: Los Angeles leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Los Angeles 84, Thessaloniki 77: Los Angeles leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Los Angeles 66, Thessaloniki 73: Thessaloniki leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Los Angeles 67, Thessaloniki 76: Thessaloniki leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Los Angeles 80, Thessaloniki 66: Los Angeles leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Los Angeles 60, Thessaloniki 74: Thessaloniki leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Los Angeles 84, Thessaloniki 50: Los Angeles leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Los Angeles 25, Thessaloniki 60: Thessaloniki leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Los Angeles 80, Thessaloniki 50: Los Angeles leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Los Angeles 24, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Los Angeles 83, Thessaloniki 52: Los Angeles leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Los Angeles 60, Thessaloniki 33: Los Angeles leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Los Angeles and Thessaloniki.

Your match

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

Los Angeles
Best match
64match

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

Thessaloniki
61match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Los Angeles in July

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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
Los AngelesThessaloniki

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Los Angeles: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (18.5 km from centre). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLos AngelesThessaloniki
Official language-Greek
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation106 m6 m
Main airportLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)19 km from centre177 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureLos AngelesThessaloniki
City population3,898,747309,617
People per km²2,99416,042
Museums within 10 km3932
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Los Angeles or Thessaloniki 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). 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.