VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Salvador?

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
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Salvador for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Salvador 66: Salvador leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Salvador 74: Salvador leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia and Salvador are level on 52.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Salvador 56: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Salvador 42: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Salvador 42: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Salvador 42: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Salvador 63: Philadelphia leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Salvador 32: Salvador leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Salvador.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on families and day trips with your weighting.

Salvador
58match

Wins on beaches 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

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSalvador

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSalvador
Official language-Portuguese
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number911Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation12 m8 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSalvador
City population1,603,7972,417,678
People per km²4,3393,489
Museums within 10 km5449
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

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