VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
Half-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France, Strasbourg
StrasbourgHalf-timbered houses on the canal, Petite France

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Strasbourg by Edoardo Colombo, Pexels License.

San Jose, Costa Rica or Strasbourg?

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 San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.

Choose Strasbourg for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Strasbourg’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. San Jose, Costa Rica 12, Strasbourg 10: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Strasbourg 66: Strasbourg leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Strasbourg 70: Strasbourg leads by 32 points.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica and Strasbourg are level on 40.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Strasbourg 62: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 16 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Strasbourg 80: Strasbourg leads by 28 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Strasbourg 66: Strasbourg leads by 22 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica 30, Strasbourg 79: Strasbourg leads by 49 points.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Strasbourg 52: Strasbourg leads by 16 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Strasbourg 44: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Strasbourg 56: Strasbourg leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Strasbourg 55: Strasbourg leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Strasbourg.

Your match

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

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices with your weighting.

Strasbourg
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Strasbourg in July

26 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaStrasbourg

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre). Strasbourg: 1991-2020 normals, Strasbourg (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaStrasbourg
Official languageSpanishFrench
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation1,161 m132 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsStrasbourg Airport (SXB)10 km from centre43 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaStrasbourg
City population335,007293,771
People per km²7,5113,752
Museums within 10 km921
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 San Jose, Costa Rica or Strasbourg 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. 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.