VacationSelector
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord
The Viru Gate, Tallinn
TallinnThe Viru Gate

Photos: Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Tallinn by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Oslo or Tallinn?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Tallinn for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Tallinn’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, Tallinn 28: Oslo leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Oslo 55, Tallinn 52: Oslo leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Oslo 66, Tallinn 68: Tallinn leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Oslo 48, Tallinn 44: Oslo leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Oslo 82, Tallinn 55: Oslo leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Oslo 52, Tallinn 58: Tallinn leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Oslo 63, Tallinn 60: Oslo leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Oslo 85, Tallinn 72: Oslo leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Oslo 50, Tallinn 40: Oslo leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Oslo 14, Tallinn 47: Tallinn leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Oslo 62, Tallinn 50: Oslo leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Oslo 60, Tallinn 50: Oslo leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Oslo
Best match
56match

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

Tallinn
52match

Wins on prices and day trips 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

Tallinn in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-5°0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
OsloTallinn

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre). Tallinn: 1991-2020 normals, Tallin / Harku (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOsloTallinn
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiEstonian
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110112
Elevation23 m28 m
Main airportOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsLennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL)6 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureOsloTallinn
City population717,710457,572
People per km²-2,871
Museums within 10 km6016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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