VacationSelector
The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, Paris
ParisThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Paris by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Paris or Seattle?

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 Seattle for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’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, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 21 points.
Food & drink. Paris 96, Seattle 66: Paris leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Paris 97, Seattle 50: Paris leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Paris 80, Seattle 55: Paris leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Paris 52, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 35 points.
Day trips. Paris 92, Seattle 55: Paris leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Paris 79, Seattle 64: Paris leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Paris 88, Seattle 60: Paris leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Paris 98, Seattle 52: Paris leads by 46 points.
Affordability. Paris 25, Seattle 22: Paris leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Paris 88, Seattle 70: Paris leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Paris and Seattle are level on 40.
0255075100

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

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.

Seattle
54match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches 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 seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
ParisSeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Paris: 1991-2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris (4.6 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureParisSeattle
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 m40 m
Main airportCharles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)22 km from centre277 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureParisSeattle
City population2,103,778737,015
People per km²19,9601,996
Museums within 10 km25127
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km40
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Paris or Seattle 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.