VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Madrid or Philadelphia?

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

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • getting around

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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 5, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Philadelphia 62: Madrid leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Philadelphia 72: Madrid leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Philadelphia 55: Madrid leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Philadelphia 52: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Philadelphia 80: Madrid leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Madrid and Philadelphia are level on 68.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Philadelphia 66: Madrid leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Philadelphia 57: Madrid leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Philadelphia 40: Madrid leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Philadelphia 72: Madrid leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Philadelphia 26: Madrid leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and food and drink with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MadridPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridPhiladelphia
Official languageSpanish-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation663 m12 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridPhiladelphia
City population3,506,7301,603,797
People per km²5,8014,339
Museums within 10 km8854
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

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