VacationSelector
The Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule, Munich
MunichThe Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Munich by 0xd1ma, Pexels License; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Munich or Osaka?

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 Munich for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Osaka for

  • food and drink
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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. Munich 28, Osaka 34: Osaka leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Munich 62, Osaka 91: Osaka leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Munich 79, Osaka 63: Munich leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Munich 56, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Munich 82, Osaka 58: Munich leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Munich 86, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Munich 78, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Munich 86, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Munich 72, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Munich 32, Osaka 60: Osaka leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Munich 84, Osaka 66: Munich leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Munich 62, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Munich and Osaka.

Your match

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

Munich
67match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on food and drink 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.

Munich in July

25 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
MunichOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Munich: 1991-2020 normals, München (1.9 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMunichOsaka
Official languageGermanJapanese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yen (JPY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+9
Emergency number112Police 110, fire 119
Elevation519 m20 m
Main airportMunich Airport (MUC)29 km from centre210 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMunichOsaka
City population1,505,0362,751,862
People per km²4,84412,340
Museums within 10 km7444
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km16
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Munich or Osaka 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.