VacationSelector
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

San Sebastian 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 Sebastian for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • food and drink

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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 Sebastian 68, Ushuaia 3: San Sebastian leads by 65 points.
Food & drink. San Sebastian 88, Ushuaia 40: San Sebastian leads by 48 points.
Culture & sights. San Sebastian 52, Ushuaia 22: San Sebastian leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. San Sebastian 44, Ushuaia 18: San Sebastian leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Sebastian 72, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 16 points.
Day trips. San Sebastian 80, Ushuaia 14: San Sebastian leads by 66 points.
Good for families. San Sebastian 66, Ushuaia 40: San Sebastian leads by 26 points.
Getting around. San Sebastian 80, Ushuaia 45: San Sebastian leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. San Sebastian 40, Ushuaia 22: San Sebastian leads by 18 points.
Affordability. San Sebastian 32, Ushuaia 42: Ushuaia leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Sebastian 45, Ushuaia 10: San Sebastian leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Sebastian 50, Ushuaia 26: San Sebastian leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Sebastian and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

San Sebastian
Best match
60match

Wins on day trips and beaches with your weighting.

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices 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

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
No seasea
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
San SebastianUshuaia

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

Before you go

MeasureSan SebastianUshuaia
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number112117 or 911
Elevation6 m23 m
Main airportSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan SebastianUshuaia
City population189,86682,615
People per km²3,1183,592
Museums within 10 km145
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km30
Swim season, months above 21 °C2 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Sebastian 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.