VacationSelector
The SkyWheel by the beach, Myrtle Beach
Myrtle BeachThe SkyWheel by the beach
A painted funicular on the hillside, Valparaiso
ValparaisoA painted funicular on the hillside

Photos: Myrtle Beach by The ed17, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Valparaiso by Maclemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Myrtle Beach or Valparaiso?

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 Myrtle Beach for

  • beaches
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Valparaiso for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Valparaiso’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. Myrtle Beach 84, Valparaiso 36: Myrtle Beach leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Myrtle Beach 38, Valparaiso 50: Valparaiso leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Myrtle Beach 20, Valparaiso 62: Valparaiso leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Myrtle Beach 42, Valparaiso 56: Valparaiso leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Myrtle Beach 46, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Myrtle Beach 50, Valparaiso 63: Valparaiso leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Myrtle Beach 80, Valparaiso 33: Myrtle Beach leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Myrtle Beach 18, Valparaiso 44: Valparaiso leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Myrtle Beach 38, Valparaiso 30: Myrtle Beach leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Myrtle Beach 52, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Myrtle Beach 30, Valparaiso 38: Valparaiso leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Myrtle Beach 28, Valparaiso 18: Myrtle Beach leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Myrtle Beach and Valparaiso.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Myrtle Beach
44match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Valparaiso
46match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

Myrtle Beach in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
172 mmrain in the month
28 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Valparaiso in July

15 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
71 mmrain in the month
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
Myrtle BeachValparaiso

Where the figures come from

Myrtle Beach has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Valparaiso has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Myrtle Beach: 1971-2000 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Myrtle Beach Air Force Base (5.5 km from centre). Valparaiso: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Viña Del Mar / Montemar (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMyrtle BeachValparaiso
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number911Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation8 m21 m
Main airportMyrtle Beach International Airport (MYR)5 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)87 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMyrtle BeachValparaiso
City population35,682296,655
People per km²5916,180
Museums within 10 km217
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C6 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Myrtle Beach or Valparaiso 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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. 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.