Photos: San Juan by Mohan Nannapaneni, Pexels License.
Punta del Este or San Juan?
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 Punta del Este for
Punta del Este does not lead in any category we score.
What lies behind each score is written up on Punta del Este’s own page.
Choose San Juan for
- culture and sights
- live music and the arts
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on San Juan’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Punta del Este and San Juan.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Has no clear advantage with the weighting you have chosen.
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.
Punta del Este in July
San Juan in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Punta del Este's temperatures are measured 79 km from the centre, at Rocha.
Punta del Este has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Punta del Este: 1991-2020 normals, Rocha (78.5 km from centre). San Juan: 1991-2020 normals, San Juan / Int., Puerto Rico (12.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Punta del Este | San Juan |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | - | Spanish, English |
| Currency | Peso Uruguayo (UYU) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | CFIL230 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-3 | UTC-4 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 11 m | 3 m |
| Main airport | Capitan Corbeta CA Curbelo International Airport (PDP)18 km from centre6 non-stop destinations | Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)12 km from centre59 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 15 days | 21 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Punta del Este | San Juan |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 9,277 | 342,259 |
| People per km² | 455 | 2,847 |
| Museums within 10 km | 5 | 18 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 3 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Punta del Este or San Juan somewhere new.