VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Puerto Iguazu or Varanasi?

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
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Varanasi for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’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, Varanasi 4: Puerto Iguazu leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 71 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu 14, Varanasi 10: Puerto Iguazu leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, Varanasi 18: Puerto Iguazu leads by 77 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, Varanasi 42: Varanasi leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, Varanasi 5: Puerto Iguazu leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, Varanasi 28: Puerto Iguazu leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 38 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, Varanasi 92: Varanasi leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 51 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, Varanasi 30: Puerto Iguazu leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Puerto Iguazu and Varanasi.

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 and families with your weighting.

Varanasi
Best match
40match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts 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
11 hdaylight a day

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Puerto IguazuVaranasi

Where the figures come from

Varanasi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). Varanasi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuVaranasi
Official languageSpanishHindi, English
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+5:30
Emergency number117 or 911108 or 112
Elevation162 m76 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuVaranasi
City population54,9031,198,491
People per km²-14,598
Museums within 10 km02
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 Puerto Iguazu or Varanasi 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.