VacationSelector
The Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule, Munich
MunichThe Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Munich by 0xd1ma, Pexels License; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Munich or Santa Monica?

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

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

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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, Santa Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Munich 62, Santa Monica 60: Munich leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Munich 79, Santa Monica 35: Munich leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Munich 56, Santa Monica 38: Munich leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Munich 82, Santa Monica 72: Munich leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Munich 86, Santa Monica 64: Munich leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Munich 78, Santa Monica 70: Munich leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Munich 86, Santa Monica 52: Munich leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Munich 72, Santa Monica 56: Munich leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Munich 32, Santa Monica 14: Munich leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Munich 84, Santa Monica 38: Munich leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Munich 62, Santa Monica 45: Munich leads by 17 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Munich and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Munich
Best match
67match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santa Monica
51match

Wins on beaches 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

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MunichSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Munich: 1991-2020 normals, München (1.9 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMunichSanta Monica
Official languageGerman-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation519 m32 m
Main airportMunich Airport (MUC)29 km from centre210 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMunichSanta Monica
City population1,505,03693,076
People per km²4,8444,270
Museums within 10 km7419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Munich or Santa Monica 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.