VacationSelector
The Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule, Munich
MunichThe Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Munich by 0xd1ma, Pexels License; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Munich or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: Munich leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Munich 62, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Munich leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Munich 79, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Munich leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Munich 56, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Munich leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Munich 82, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Munich leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Munich 86, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: Munich leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Munich 78, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Munich leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Munich 86, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Munich leads by 56 points.
Shopping & style. Munich 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Munich leads by 36 points.
Affordability. Munich 32, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Munich 84, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Munich leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Munich 62, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Munich leads by 34 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Munich and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Munich
Best match
67match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on 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
16 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MunichSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Munich: 1991-2020 normals, München (1.9 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMunichSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageGermanSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation519 m1,161 m
Main airportMunich Airport (MUC)29 km from centre210 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMunichSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population1,505,036335,007
People per km²4,8447,511
Museums within 10 km749
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Munich or San Jose, Costa Rica 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.