VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Madrid or Ushuaia?

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

  • day trips
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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, Ushuaia 3: Madrid leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Ushuaia 40: Madrid leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Ushuaia 22: Madrid leads by 64 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Ushuaia 18: Madrid leads by 67 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Ushuaia 14: Madrid leads by 75 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Ushuaia 40: Madrid leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Ushuaia 45: Madrid leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Ushuaia 22: Madrid leads by 53 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Ushuaia 42: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Ushuaia 10: Madrid leads by 67 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Ushuaia 26: Madrid leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on day trips and nightlife with your weighting.

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on 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

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
MadridUshuaia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridUshuaia
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number112117 or 911
Elevation663 m23 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridUshuaia
City population3,506,73082,615
People per km²5,8013,592
Museums within 10 km885
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km40

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Madrid or Ushuaia 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.