VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía

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

Philadelphia or Santiago?

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

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Santiago for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’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, Santiago 12: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Santiago 60: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Santiago 52: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Santiago 60: Santiago leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Santiago 83: Santiago leads by 31 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Santiago 70: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Santiago 57: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Santiago 68: Santiago leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Santiago 52: Philadelphia leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Santiago 58: Santiago leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Santiago 55: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Santiago 37: Santiago leads by 11 points.
0255075100

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

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 beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santiago
55match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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
15 hdaylight a day

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSantiago

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSantiago
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number911Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation12 m575 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSantiago
City population1,603,7976,257,516
People per km²4,3397,468
Museums within 10 km5454
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Santiago 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.