VacationSelector
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Oslo or Philadelphia?

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 Oslo for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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. Oslo and Philadelphia are level on 36.
Food & drink. Oslo 55, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Oslo 66, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Oslo 48, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Oslo 82, Philadelphia 52: Oslo leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Oslo 52, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Oslo 63, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Oslo 85, Philadelphia 66: Oslo leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Oslo 50, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Oslo 14, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Oslo 62, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Oslo 60, Philadelphia 26: Oslo leads by 34 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Oslo
56match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips 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.

Oslo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
86 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
OsloPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOsloPhiladelphia
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Sámi-
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110911
Elevation23 m12 m
Main airportOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureOsloPhiladelphia
City population717,7101,603,797
People per km²-4,339
Museums within 10 km6054
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

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