VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Lyon or Muscat?

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

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 60 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Muscat 44: Lyon leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Muscat 55: Lyon leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Muscat 14: Lyon leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Muscat 62: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Muscat 52: Lyon leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Muscat 20: Lyon leads by 57 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Muscat 42: Lyon leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Muscat 45: Muscat leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Muscat 40: Lyon leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 15 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around and nightlife with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on beaches 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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonMuscat
Official languageFrenchArabic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+4
Emergency number112968
Elevation160 m69 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureLyonMuscat
City population519,1271,421,409
People per km²10,838406
Museums within 10 km4310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Lyon or Muscat 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. 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.