VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
The Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb
ZagrebThe Croatian National Theatre

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Zagreb by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Madrid or Zagreb?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Zagreb for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Zagreb’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, Zagreb 10: Zagreb leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Zagreb 55: Madrid leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Zagreb 56: Madrid leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Zagreb 47: Madrid leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Zagreb 62: Zagreb leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Zagreb 60: Madrid leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Zagreb 52: Madrid leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Zagreb 70: Madrid leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Zagreb 40: Madrid leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Zagreb 52: Madrid leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Zagreb 33: Madrid leads by 3 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Zagreb
50match

Wins on prices 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

Zagreb in July

29 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MadridZagreb

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Zagreb: 1991-2020 normals, Zagreb / Gric (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridZagreb
Official languageSpanishCroatian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation663 m127 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsZagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG)11 km from centre64 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridZagreb
City population3,506,730767,131
People per km²5,801-
Museums within 10 km8827
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 Zagreb 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.