VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

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

Lyon or Thessaloniki?

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
  • families

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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, Thessaloniki 55: Thessaloniki leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Thessaloniki 77: Lyon leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Thessaloniki 73: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Thessaloniki 76: Thessaloniki leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Thessaloniki 74: Lyon leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Thessaloniki 50: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Thessaloniki 60: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Thessaloniki 50: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Thessaloniki 52: Lyon leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Thessaloniki 33: Lyon leads by 7 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Lyon
60match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Thessaloniki
61match

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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonThessaloniki

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonThessaloniki
Official languageFrenchGreek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m6 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonThessaloniki
City population519,127309,617
People per km²10,83816,042
Museums within 10 km4332
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
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 Thessaloniki 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.