VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The House of the Blackheads at dusk, Riga
RigaThe House of the Blackheads at dusk

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Riga by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Riga?

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 Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Riga for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Riga’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. Philadelphia 36, Riga 40: Riga leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Riga 52: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Riga 66: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Riga 52: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Riga 55: Riga leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Riga 60: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Riga 50: Philadelphia leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Riga 68: Riga leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Riga 45: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Riga 62: Riga leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Riga 65: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Riga 50: Riga leads by 24 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips and families with your weighting.

Riga
55match

Wins on wellness 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.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Riga in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
18 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaRiga

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Riga: 1991-2020 normals, Riga (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaRiga
Official language-Latvian
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m6 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsRiga International Airport (RIX)9 km from centre93 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaRiga
City population1,603,797588,911
People per km²4,339-
Museums within 10 km5412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Philadelphia or Riga 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.