VacationSelector
The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, Paris
ParisThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Paris by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Paris or San Sebastian?

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
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 59 points.
Food & drink. Paris 96, San Sebastian 88: Paris leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Paris 97, San Sebastian 52: Paris leads by 45 points.
Nightlife. Paris 80, San Sebastian 44: Paris leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Paris 52, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Paris 92, San Sebastian 80: Paris leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Paris 79, San Sebastian 66: Paris leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Paris 88, San Sebastian 80: Paris leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Paris 98, San Sebastian 40: Paris leads by 58 points.
Affordability. Paris 25, San Sebastian 32: San Sebastian leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Paris 88, San Sebastian 45: Paris leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Paris 40, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Paris and San Sebastian.

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 culture and sights with your weighting.

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ParisSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Paris: 1991-2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris (4.6 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureParisSan Sebastian
Official languageFrenchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation27 m6 m
Main airportCharles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)22 km from centre277 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureParisSan Sebastian
City population2,103,778189,866
People per km²19,9603,118
Museums within 10 km25114
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km43
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Paris or San Sebastian 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.