VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Lyon or Valletta?

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

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

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

Choose Valletta for

  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Valletta leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Valletta 55: Lyon leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Valletta 76: Lyon leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Valletta 46: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Valletta 56: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Valletta 76: Lyon leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Valletta 58: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Valletta 62: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Valletta 38: Lyon leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Valletta 50: Valletta leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Valletta 44: Lyon leads by 24 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Valletta 32: Lyon leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

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

Valletta
55match

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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonValletta

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

Before you go

MeasureLyonValletta
Official languageFrenchEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m56 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonValletta
City population519,1275,197
People per km²10,8386,496
Museums within 10 km4316
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km23
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

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