VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Mexico City or San Sebastian?

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 Mexico City for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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. Mexico City 5, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 63 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, San Sebastian 88: Mexico City leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, San Sebastian 52: Mexico City leads by 36 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, San Sebastian 44: Mexico City leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, San Sebastian 66: San Sebastian leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, San Sebastian 40: Mexico City leads by 36 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, San Sebastian 32: Mexico City leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, San Sebastian 45: Mexico City leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on beaches 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.

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Mexico CitySan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 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. Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CitySan Sebastian
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaSpanish
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation2,240 m6 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMexico CitySan Sebastian
City population9,209,944189,866
People per km²6,2023,118
Museums within 10 km10814
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km63
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mexico City or San Sebastian 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.