VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0.

Madrid or Sarajevo?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

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

Choose Sarajevo for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Sarajevo’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, Sarajevo 6: Sarajevo leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Sarajevo 60: Madrid leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Sarajevo 64: Madrid leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Sarajevo 44: Madrid leads by 41 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Sarajevo 78: Sarajevo leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Sarajevo 62: Madrid leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Sarajevo 38: Madrid leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Sarajevo 60: Madrid leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Sarajevo 40: Madrid leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Sarajevo 80: Sarajevo leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Sarajevo 40: Madrid leads by 37 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Sarajevo 42: Sarajevo leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Sarajevo.

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Sarajevo
51match

Wins on prices 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.

Madrid in July

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

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MadridSarajevo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridSarajevo
Official languageSpanishCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Convertible Mark (BAM)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation663 m518 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridSarajevo
City population3,506,730275,524
People per km²5,8011,947
Museums within 10 km8825
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 Sarajevo 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. 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.