VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Lyon or Rome?

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
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Rome for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Rome’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, Rome 50: Rome leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Rome 82: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Rome 99: Rome leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Lyon and Rome are level on 58.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Rome 58: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Rome 92: Rome leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Rome 50: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Rome 60: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Rome 72: Rome leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Rome 38: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon and Rome are level on 68.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon and Rome are level on 40.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
60match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Rome
Best match
64match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights 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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonRome

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonRome
Official languageFrenchItalian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m21 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonRome
City population519,1272,748,109
People per km²10,8382,135
Museums within 10 km43178
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km27
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 Rome 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.