VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace, Split
SplitThe Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Split by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Lyon or Split?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink
  • shopping

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

Choose Split for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Split’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, Split 75: Split leads by 63 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Split 57: Lyon leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Split 66: Lyon leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Split 52: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Split 77: Split leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Split 78: Split leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Split 54: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Split 67: Lyon leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Split 32: Lyon leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Split 45: Split leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Split 37: Lyon leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon and Split are level on 40.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on live music and the arts and food and drink with your weighting.

Split
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Split in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
25 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonSplit

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Split: 1991-2020 normals, Split / Marjan (0.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonSplit
Official languageFrenchCroatian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m0 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsSplit Saint Jerome Airport (SPU)12 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonSplit
City population519,127160,577
People per km²10,838-
Museums within 10 km4311
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km24
Swim season, months above 21 °C-4 months

Where else could you go?

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