VacationSelector
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

San Sebastian or Thessaloniki?

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 Sebastian for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • families

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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 Sebastian 68, Thessaloniki 55: San Sebastian leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. San Sebastian 88, Thessaloniki 77: San Sebastian leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. San Sebastian 52, Thessaloniki 73: Thessaloniki leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. San Sebastian 44, Thessaloniki 76: Thessaloniki leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Sebastian 72, Thessaloniki 66: San Sebastian leads by 6 points.
Day trips. San Sebastian 80, Thessaloniki 74: San Sebastian leads by 6 points.
Good for families. San Sebastian 66, Thessaloniki 50: San Sebastian leads by 16 points.
Getting around. San Sebastian 80, Thessaloniki 60: San Sebastian leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. San Sebastian 40, Thessaloniki 50: Thessaloniki leads by 10 points.
Affordability. San Sebastian 32, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Sebastian 45, Thessaloniki 52: Thessaloniki leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Sebastian 50, Thessaloniki 33: San Sebastian leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Sebastian and Thessaloniki.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on getting around and wellness with your weighting.

Thessaloniki
61match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
San SebastianThessaloniki

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan SebastianThessaloniki
Official languageSpanishGreek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m6 m
Main airportSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan SebastianThessaloniki
City population189,866309,617
People per km²3,11816,042
Museums within 10 km1432
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C2 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Sebastian or Thessaloniki 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.