VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light, Panama City
Panama CityThe towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Panama City by Ayaita, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Lyon or Panama City?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Panama City for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Panama City’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, Panama City 44: Panama City leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Panama City 57: Lyon leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Panama City 62: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Panama City 62: Panama City leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Panama City 74: Panama City leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Panama City 50: Lyon leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Panama City 45: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Panama City 40: Lyon leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Panama City 52: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Panama City 55: Panama City leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Panama City 34: Lyon leads by 34 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Panama City 22: Lyon leads by 18 points.
0255075100

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

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Panama City
50match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Panama City in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
161 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
LyonPanama City

Where the figures come from

Panama City has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Panama City: 1991-2020 normals, Tocumen (20.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonPanama City
Official languageFrenchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Balboa (PAB)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112911
Elevation160 m20 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsTocumen International Airport (PTY)20 km from centre92 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonPanama City
City population519,1271,540,000
People per km²10,8385,600
Museums within 10 km4310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km22
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 Panama City 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.