VacationSelector
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens
The old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds, Sapporo
SapporoThe old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds

Photos: Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Sapporo by Feri88, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Marrakech or Sapporo?

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

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • prices

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

Choose Sapporo for

  • families
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Sapporo’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, Sapporo 28: Sapporo leads by 21 points.
Food & drink. Marrakech 64, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Marrakech 76, Sapporo 40: Marrakech leads by 36 points.
Nightlife. Marrakech 33, Sapporo 62: Sapporo leads by 29 points.
Nature & outdoors. Marrakech 70, Sapporo 86: Sapporo leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Marrakech 28, Sapporo 64: Sapporo leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Marrakech 25, Sapporo 72: Sapporo leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Marrakech 38, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Marrakech 72, Sapporo 58: Marrakech leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Marrakech 72, Sapporo 60: Marrakech leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Marrakech 25, Sapporo 44: Sapporo leads by 19 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Marrakech 75, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Marrakech and Sapporo.

Your match

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

Marrakech
49match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

Sapporo
Best match
63match

Wins on families and getting around 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

Sapporo in July

25 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
MarrakechSapporo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre). Sapporo: 1991-2020 normals, Sapporo (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMarrakechSapporo
Official languageArabic, Standard Moroccan TamazightJapanese
CurrencyMoroccan Dirham (MAD)Yen (JPY)
SocketsCE50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15Police 110, fire 119
Elevation465 m5 m
Main airportMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinationsNew Chitose Airport (CTS)42 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMarrakechSapporo
City population1,002,6971,959,313
People per km²4,3601,747
Museums within 10 km1433
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-1 month

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Marrakech or Sapporo 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.