VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License.

Madrid or Mexico City?

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 Madrid for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Mexico City for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Mexico City’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. Madrid and Mexico City are level on 5.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Mexico City 90: Mexico City leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Mexico City 88: Mexico City leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Mexico City 80: Madrid leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Mexico City 50: Madrid leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Mexico City 75: Madrid leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Mexico City 58: Madrid leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Mexico City 50: Madrid leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Mexico City 76: Mexico City leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Mexico City 75: Mexico City leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Mexico City 72: Madrid leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Mexico City 40: Mexico City leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Mexico City.

Your match

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

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Mexico City
63match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
MadridMexico City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridMexico City
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation663 m2,240 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridMexico City
City population3,506,7309,209,944
People per km²5,8016,202
Museums within 10 km88108
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km46

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Madrid or Mexico City 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.