VacationSelector
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum

Photos: Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Oslo or Rome?

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

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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

Choose Rome for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Rome’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 36, Rome 50: Rome leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Oslo 55, Rome 82: Rome leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Oslo 66, Rome 99: Rome leads by 33 points.
Nightlife. Oslo 48, Rome 58: Rome leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Oslo 82, Rome 58: Oslo leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Oslo 52, Rome 92: Rome leads by 40 points.
Good for families. Oslo 63, Rome 50: Oslo leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Oslo 85, Rome 60: Oslo leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Oslo 50, Rome 72: Rome leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Oslo 14, Rome 38: Rome leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Oslo 62, Rome 68: Rome leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Oslo 60, Rome 40: Oslo leads by 20 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Oslo
56match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Rome
Best match
64match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights 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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
OsloRome

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOsloRome
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiItalian
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110112
Elevation23 m21 m
Main airportOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureOsloRome
City population717,7102,748,109
People per km²-2,135
Museums within 10 km60178
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km07
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

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