VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
São Paulo Cathedral, Sao Paulo
Sao PauloSão Paulo Cathedral

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Lyon or Sao Paulo?

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
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Sao Paulo for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Sao Paulo’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, Sao Paulo 42: Sao Paulo leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Lyon and Sao Paulo are level on 84.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Sao Paulo 60: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Sao Paulo 86: Sao Paulo leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Sao Paulo 48: Lyon leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Sao Paulo 47: Lyon leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Sao Paulo 52: Lyon leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Sao Paulo 44: Lyon leads by 33 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Sao Paulo 70: Sao Paulo leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Sao Paulo 62: Sao Paulo leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Sao Paulo 76: Sao Paulo leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Sao Paulo 25: Lyon leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Lyon and Sao Paulo.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Lyon
60match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Sao Paulo
58match

Wins on beaches and nightlife 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

Sao Paulo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
53 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
LyonSao Paulo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonSao Paulo
Official languageFrenchPortuguese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number112Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation160 m760 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsSão Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonSao Paulo
City population519,12711,451,999
People per km²10,8387,519
Museums within 10 km4390
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20

Where else could you go?

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