VacationSelector
Lower Broadway and its honky-tonks, Nashville
NashvilleLower Broadway and its honky-tonks
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Nashville by Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Nashville or Portland?

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 Nashville for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Portland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’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. Nashville 14, Portland 20: Portland leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Nashville 62, Portland 68: Portland leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Nashville 50, Portland 38: Nashville leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Nashville 70, Portland 52: Nashville leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nashville 46, Portland 84: Portland leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Nashville 52, Portland 58: Portland leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Nashville and Portland are level on 55.
Getting around. Nashville 30, Portland 62: Portland leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Nashville 42, Portland 52: Portland leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Nashville 30, Portland 38: Portland leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nashville 82, Portland 55: Nashville leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nashville 20, Portland 42: Portland leads by 22 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nashville and Portland.

Your match

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

Nashville
46match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife with your weighting.

Portland
Best match
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Nashville in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
104 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NashvillePortland

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nashville: 1991-2020 normals, Nashville Airport (9.6 km from centre). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNashvillePortland
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation182 m152 m
Main airportNashville International Airport (BNA)10 km from centre122 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNashvillePortland
City population689,447652,503
People per km²5061,736
Museums within 10 km1217
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nashville or Portland 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. 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.