VacationSelector
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Marrakech or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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 Marrakech for

  • wellness
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • day trips
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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. Marrakech 7, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Marrakech 64, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Marrakech leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Marrakech 76, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Marrakech leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Marrakech 33, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Marrakech 70, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Marrakech 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Marrakech 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Marrakech 38, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Marrakech leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Marrakech 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Marrakech leads by 36 points.
Affordability. Marrakech 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Marrakech leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Marrakech 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Marrakech 75, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Marrakech leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Marrakech and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Marrakech
Best match
49match

Wins on wellness and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on day trips and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MarrakechSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMarrakechSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageArabic, Standard Moroccan TamazightSpanish
CurrencyMoroccan Dirham (MAD)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCE50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15911
Elevation465 m1,161 m
Main airportMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMarrakechSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population1,002,697335,007
People per km²4,3607,511
Museums within 10 km149
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Marrakech or San Jose, Costa Rica 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). 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.