VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
Half-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France, Strasbourg
StrasbourgHalf-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Strasbourg by Edoardo Colombo, Pexels License.

Madrid or Strasbourg?

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
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Strasbourg for

  • wellness
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Strasbourg’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, Strasbourg 10: Strasbourg leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Strasbourg 66: Madrid leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Strasbourg 70: Madrid leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Strasbourg 40: Madrid leads by 45 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Strasbourg 62: Strasbourg leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Strasbourg 80: Madrid leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Strasbourg 66: Madrid leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Strasbourg 79: Madrid leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Strasbourg 52: Madrid leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Strasbourg 44: Madrid leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Strasbourg 56: Madrid leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Strasbourg 55: Strasbourg leads by 19 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Strasbourg.

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 shopping with your weighting.

Strasbourg
57match

Wins on wellness and 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

Strasbourg in July

26 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
MadridStrasbourg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Strasbourg: 1991-2020 normals, Strasbourg (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridStrasbourg
Official languageSpanishFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation663 m132 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsStrasbourg Airport (SXB)10 km from centre43 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridStrasbourg
City population3,506,730293,771
People per km²5,8013,752
Museums within 10 km8821
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 Strasbourg 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.