VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river, Tampa
TampaThe old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Tampa by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Tampa?

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

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Tampa for

  • beaches
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Tampa’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, Tampa 70: Tampa leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Tampa 57: Philadelphia leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Tampa 42: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Tampa 52: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Tampa 55: Tampa leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Tampa 54: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Tampa 78: Tampa leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Tampa 22: Philadelphia leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Tampa 40: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia and Tampa are level on 40.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Tampa 47: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Tampa 30: Tampa leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Tampa.

Your match

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

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

Tampa
49match

Wins on beaches and families 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

Tampa in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaTampa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Tampa: 1991-2020 normals, Tampa International Airport (7.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaTampa
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m30 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsTampa International Airport (TPA)8 km from centre101 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaTampa
City population1,603,797384,959
People per km²4,339848
Museums within 10 km546
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-8 months

Where else could you go?

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