VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Rome?

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

  • families
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Rome for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Rome’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, Rome 50: Rome leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Rome 82: Rome leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Rome 99: Rome leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Rome 58: Rome leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Rome 58: Rome leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Rome 92: Rome leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Rome 50: Philadelphia leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Rome 60: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Rome 72: Rome leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Rome 38: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Rome 68: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Rome 40: Rome leads by 14 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on families and getting around with your weighting.

Rome
Best match
64match

Wins on culture and sights and food and drink 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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaRome

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaRome
Official language-Italian
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m21 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaRome
City population1,603,7972,748,109
People per km²4,3392,135
Museums within 10 km54178
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km17
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Rome 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.