VacationSelector
The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, Paris
ParisThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Paris by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Paris 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 Paris for

  • shopping
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • beaches
  • prices

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. Paris 9, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Paris 96, Philadelphia 62: Paris leads by 34 points.
Culture & sights. Paris 97, Philadelphia 72: Paris leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Paris 80, Philadelphia 55: Paris leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Paris and Philadelphia are level on 52.
Day trips. Paris 92, Philadelphia 80: Paris leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Paris 79, Philadelphia 68: Paris leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Paris 88, Philadelphia 66: Paris leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Paris 98, Philadelphia 57: Paris leads by 41 points.
Affordability. Paris 25, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Paris 88, Philadelphia 72: Paris leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Paris 40, Philadelphia 26: Paris leads by 14 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Paris
Best match
70match

Wins on shopping and food and drink with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches 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.

Paris in July

26 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ParisPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Paris: 1991-2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris (4.6 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureParisPhiladelphia
Official languageFrench-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation27 m12 m
Main airportCharles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)22 km from centre277 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureParisPhiladelphia
City population2,103,7781,603,797
People per km²19,9604,339
Museums within 10 km25154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Paris 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.