VacationSelector
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens
The Winchester Mystery House, San Jose
San JoseThe Winchester Mystery House

Photos: Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Jose by Roxanna Salceda, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Marrakech or San Jose?

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

  • prices
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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

Choose San Jose for

  • day trips
  • families
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose’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 30: San Jose leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Marrakech 64, San Jose 56: Marrakech leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Marrakech 76, San Jose 36: Marrakech leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Marrakech and San Jose are level on 33.
Nature & outdoors. Marrakech 70, San Jose 72: San Jose leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Marrakech 28, San Jose 78: San Jose leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Marrakech 25, San Jose 65: San Jose leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Marrakech 38, San Jose 30: Marrakech leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Marrakech 72, San Jose 48: Marrakech leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Marrakech 72, San Jose 20: Marrakech leads by 52 points.
Live music & performing arts. Marrakech 25, San Jose 38: San Jose leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Marrakech 75, San Jose 30: Marrakech leads by 45 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Marrakech and San Jose.

Your match

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

Marrakech
Best match
49match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

San Jose
45match

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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

San Jose in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
MarrakechSan Jose

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre). San Jose: 1991-2020 normals, San Jose / Santa Clara Trailer Village (8.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMarrakechSan Jose
Official languageArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight-
CurrencyMoroccan Dirham (MAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15911
Elevation465 m25 m
Main airportMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinationsMineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)8 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMarrakechSan Jose
City population1,002,6971,013,240
People per km²4,3602,167
Museums within 10 km1419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Marrakech or San Jose 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.