VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Puerto Iguazu or Shanghai?

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 Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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. Puerto Iguazu 5, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 60 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 63 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu 14, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 66 points.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, Shanghai 25: Puerto Iguazu leads by 70 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 57 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 65 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 59 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Puerto Iguazu and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Puerto IguazuShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuShanghai
Official languageSpanishPutonghua
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+8
Emergency number117 or 911Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation162 m4 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuShanghai
City population54,90324,870,895
People per km²-3,922
Museums within 10 km045
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Puerto Iguazu or Shanghai 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.