VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Zurich?

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

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

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

Choose Zurich for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Zurich 53: Philadelphia leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Zurich 58: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Zurich 3: Philadelphia leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Zurich 70: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Zurich.

Your match

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

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on wellness and getting around 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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaZurich
Official language-French, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m408 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaZurich
City population1,603,797440,935
People per km²4,3395,016
Museums within 10 km5463
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

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