VacationSelector
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Portland 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 Portland for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Zurich for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • beaches

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. Portland 20, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Portland 68, Zurich 53: Portland leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Portland 38, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Portland 52, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Portland 84, Zurich 80: Portland leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Portland 58, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Portland 55, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 21 points.
Getting around. Portland 62, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 33 points.
Shopping & style. Portland 52, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Portland 38, Zurich 3: Portland leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Portland 55, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Portland 42, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Portland and Zurich.

Your match

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

Portland
52match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
PortlandZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePortlandZurich
Official language-French, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation152 m408 m
Main airportPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasurePortlandZurich
City population652,503440,935
People per km²1,7365,016
Museums within 10 km1763
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Portland 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.