VacationSelector
Vine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley, Mendoza
MendozaVine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley
The church of San Francisco under a blue sky, Quito
QuitoThe church of San Francisco under a blue sky

Photos: Mendoza by David, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Quito by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Mendoza or Quito?

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 Mendoza for

  • food and drink
  • wellness
  • families

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

Choose Quito for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Quito’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. Mendoza 6, Quito 5: Mendoza leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Mendoza 68, Quito 54: Mendoza leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Mendoza 30, Quito 77: Quito leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Mendoza and Quito are level on 40.
Nature & outdoors. Mendoza 83, Quito 86: Quito leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Mendoza 52, Quito 55: Quito leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Mendoza 42, Quito 32: Mendoza leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Mendoza 48, Quito 45: Mendoza leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Mendoza 33, Quito 40: Quito leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Mendoza 56, Quito 78: Quito leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mendoza 33, Quito 38: Quito leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mendoza 55, Quito 44: Mendoza leads by 11 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mendoza and Quito.

Your match

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

Mendoza
46match

Wins on food and drink and wellness with your weighting.

Quito
Best match
50match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Mendoza in July

15 °Cdaytime high
2 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Quito in July

18 °Cdaytime high
5 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
MendozaQuito

Where the figures come from

Quito's station stands 208 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mendoza: 1991-2020 normals, Mendoza Aerodrome (8.5 km from centre). Quito: 1961-1990 normals, Izobamba-Santa Catalina (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMendozaQuito
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Shuar, Northern Quichua
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC-5
Emergency number117 or 911911
Elevation769 m2,850 m
Main airportGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ)8 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsMariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)20 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMendozaQuito
City population127,1601,763,275
People per km²2,3554,735
Museums within 10 km116
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mendoza or Quito 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.