VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
The Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb
ZagrebThe Croatian National Theatre

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Zagreb by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

San Jose, Costa Rica or Zagreb?

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
  • beaches

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

Choose Zagreb for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Zagreb’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, Zagreb 10: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Zagreb 55: Zagreb leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Zagreb 56: Zagreb leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica 40, Zagreb 47: Zagreb leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Zagreb 62: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 16 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 8 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Zagreb 52: Zagreb leads by 8 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica 30, Zagreb 70: Zagreb leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Zagreb 40: Zagreb leads by 4 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Zagreb 52: Zagreb leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Zagreb 33: Zagreb leads by 5 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Zagreb.

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 beaches with your weighting.

Zagreb
Best match
50match

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

Zagreb in July

29 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaZagreb

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). Zagreb: 1991-2020 normals, Zagreb / Gric (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaZagreb
Official languageSpanishCroatian
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation1,161 m127 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsZagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG)11 km from centre64 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaZagreb
City population335,007767,131
People per km²7,511-
Museums within 10 km927
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 Zagreb 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.