VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Manila or Zurich?

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 Manila for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

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

Choose Zurich for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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. Manila 12, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 33 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Zurich 53: Manila leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Zurich 62: Manila leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 69 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Zurich 3: Manila leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Zurich.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaZurich
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation9 m408 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaZurich
City population1,902,590440,935
People per km²76,1045,016
Museums within 10 km2763
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila or Zurich 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.