VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Lyon or Osaka?

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

  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Osaka for

  • families
  • wellness
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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, Osaka 34: Osaka leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Osaka 91: Osaka leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Osaka 63: Lyon leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Osaka 58: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Osaka 60: Osaka leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Osaka 66: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 26 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Lyon and Osaka.

Your match

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

Lyon
60match

Wins on culture and sights and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on families 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

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
LyonOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonOsaka
Official languageFrenchJapanese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yen (JPY)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+9
Emergency number112Police 110, fire 119
Elevation160 m20 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonOsaka
City population519,1272,751,862
People per km²10,83812,340
Museums within 10 km4344
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km26
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

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