VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Opera House from the water, Sydney
SydneyThe Opera House from the water

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Sydney by Bernard Spragg, CC0.

Philadelphia or Sydney?

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
  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Sydney for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Sydney’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, Sydney 95: Sydney leads by 59 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Sydney 77: Sydney leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Sydney 60: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Sydney 60: Sydney leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Sydney 85: Sydney leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Sydney 50: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Sydney 75: Sydney leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Sydney 75: Sydney leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Sydney 68: Sydney leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Sydney 22: Philadelphia leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Sydney 73: Sydney leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Sydney 55: Sydney leads by 29 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips and prices with your weighting.

Sydney
Best match
66match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Sydney in July

18 °Cdaytime high
9 °Cnight-time low
70 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSydney

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Sydney: 1991-2020 normals, Sydney Airport (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSydney
Official language-English
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Australian Dollar (AUD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+10, UTC+11 in summer
Emergency number911000
Elevation12 m6 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsSydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD)9 km from centre99 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSydney
City population1,603,7975,450,496
People per km²4,339449
Museums within 10 km5438
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

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