VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
The cathedral above the old town, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de CompostelaThe cathedral above the old town

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; Santiago de Compostela by Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Mexico City or Santiago de Compostela?

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

  • shopping
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Santiago de Compostela for

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago de Compostela’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, Santiago de Compostela 32: Santiago de Compostela leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, Santiago de Compostela 68: Mexico City leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, Santiago de Compostela 70: Mexico City leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, Santiago de Compostela 45: Mexico City leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, Santiago de Compostela 62: Santiago de Compostela leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, Santiago de Compostela 72: Mexico City leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, Santiago de Compostela 42: Mexico City leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, Santiago de Compostela 35: Mexico City leads by 41 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, Santiago de Compostela 64: Mexico City leads by 11 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, Santiago de Compostela 40: Mexico City leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, Santiago de Compostela 42: Santiago de Compostela leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and Santiago de Compostela.

Your match

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

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on shopping and nightlife with your weighting.

Santiago de Compostela
54match

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

Santiago de Compostela in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
41 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Mexico CitySantiago de Compostela

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). Santiago de Compostela: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago / Labacolla (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CitySantiago de Compostela
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 m260 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsSantiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ)10 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMexico CitySantiago de Compostela
City population9,209,944100,965
People per km²6,202459
Museums within 10 km1086
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km62
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 Mexico City or Santiago de Compostela 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.