VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Lyon or Marrakech?

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 Lyon for

  • day trips
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Marrakech for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Marrakech’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. Lyon 12, Marrakech 7: Lyon leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Marrakech 64: Lyon leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Marrakech 76: Lyon leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Marrakech 33: Lyon leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Marrakech 70: Marrakech leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Marrakech 28: Lyon leads by 49 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Marrakech 25: Lyon leads by 37 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Marrakech 38: Lyon leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Marrakech 72: Marrakech leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Marrakech 72: Marrakech leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Marrakech 25: Lyon leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Marrakech 75: Marrakech leads by 35 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on day trips and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Marrakech
49match

Wins on wellness 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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonMarrakech

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonMarrakech
Official languageFrenchArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation160 m465 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonMarrakech
City population519,1271,002,697
People per km²10,8384,360
Museums within 10 km4314
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Lyon or Marrakech 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.