VacationSelector
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Rome 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 Rome for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Zurich for

  • getting around
  • families
  • 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. Rome 50, Zurich 45: Rome leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Rome 82, Zurich 53: Rome leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Rome 99, Zurich 58: Rome leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Rome 58, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Rome 58, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Rome 92, Zurich 84: Rome leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Rome 50, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Rome 60, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Rome 72, Zurich 66: Rome leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Rome 38, Zurich 3: Rome leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rome 68, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rome 40, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Rome and Zurich.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Rome
64match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Zurich
63match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
RomeZurich

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRomeZurich
Official languageItalianFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation21 m408 m
Main airportRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureRomeZurich
City population2,748,109440,935
People per km²2,1355,016
Museums within 10 km17863
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km71
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Rome 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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.