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 red cable car above Wellington, Wellington
WellingtonThe red cable car above Wellington

Photos: Mendoza by David, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Wellington by lumoplank, CC0.

Mendoza or Wellington?

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

  • wellness
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Wellington for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Wellington’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, Wellington 33: Wellington leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Mendoza 68, Wellington 62: Mendoza leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Mendoza 30, Wellington 44: Wellington leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Mendoza 40, Wellington 45: Wellington leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mendoza 83, Wellington 78: Mendoza leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Mendoza 52, Wellington 40: Mendoza leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Mendoza 42, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Mendoza 48, Wellington 68: Wellington leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Mendoza 33, Wellington 42: Wellington leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Mendoza 56, Wellington 33: Mendoza leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mendoza 33, Wellington 56: Wellington leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mendoza 55, Wellington 30: Mendoza leads by 25 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mendoza and Wellington.

Your match

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

Mendoza
46match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Wellington
Best match
49match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts 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
No seasea
10 hdaylight a day

Wellington in July

12 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MendozaWellington

Where the figures come from

Wellington's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Paraparaumu Aerodrome.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mendoza: 1991-2020 normals, Mendoza Aerodrome (8.5 km from centre). Wellington: 1961-1990 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Wellington Aerodrome Aws (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMendozaWellington
Official languageSpanishEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer
Emergency number117 or 911111
Elevation769 m0 m
Main airportGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ)8 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsWellington International Airport (WLG)5 km from centre20 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMendozaWellington
City population127,160216,200
People per km²2,355487
Museums within 10 km112
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Mendoza or Wellington 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.