VacationSelector
The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, Paris
ParisThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Paris by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Paris 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 Paris for

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • day trips

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

Choose Portland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • beaches

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. Paris 9, Portland 20: Portland leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Paris 96, Portland 68: Paris leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Paris 97, Portland 38: Paris leads by 59 points.
Nightlife. Paris 80, Portland 52: Paris leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Paris 52, Portland 84: Portland leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Paris 92, Portland 58: Paris leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Paris 79, Portland 55: Paris leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Paris 88, Portland 62: Paris leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Paris 98, Portland 52: Paris leads by 46 points.
Affordability. Paris 25, Portland 38: Portland leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Paris 88, Portland 55: Paris leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Paris 40, Portland 42: Portland leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Paris and Portland.

Your match

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

Paris
Best match
70match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

Portland
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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
16 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ParisPortland

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Paris: 1991-2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris (4.6 km from centre). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureParisPortland
Official languageFrench-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation27 m152 m
Main airportCharles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)22 km from centre277 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureParisPortland
City population2,103,778652,503
People per km²19,9601,736
Museums within 10 km25117
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km40

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Paris 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). 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.