VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

San Jose, Costa Rica or Ushuaia?

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

  • day trips
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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, Ushuaia 3: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Ushuaia 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Ushuaia 22: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica 40, Ushuaia 18: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 10 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Ushuaia 14: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 38 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Ushuaia 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica 30, Ushuaia 45: Ushuaia leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Ushuaia 22: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 14 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Ushuaia 42: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Ushuaia 10: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Ushuaia 26: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

San Jose, Costa Rica
Best match
41match

Wins on day trips and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors 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

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaUshuaia

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). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaUshuaia
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-3
Emergency number911117 or 911
Elevation1,161 m23 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaUshuaia
City population335,00782,615
People per km²7,5113,592
Museums within 10 km95
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Jose, Costa Rica or Ushuaia 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. 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.