VacationSelector
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Santiago 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 Santiago for

  • day trips
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • 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. Santiago 12, Ushuaia 3: Santiago leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Santiago 60, Ushuaia 40: Santiago leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Santiago 52, Ushuaia 22: Santiago leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Santiago 60, Ushuaia 18: Santiago leads by 42 points.
Nature & outdoors. Santiago 83, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Santiago 70, Ushuaia 14: Santiago leads by 56 points.
Good for families. Santiago 57, Ushuaia 40: Santiago leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Santiago 68, Ushuaia 45: Santiago leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Santiago 52, Ushuaia 22: Santiago leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Santiago 58, Ushuaia 42: Santiago leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Santiago 55, Ushuaia 10: Santiago leads by 45 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Santiago 37, Ushuaia 26: Santiago leads by 11 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Santiago and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

Santiago
Best match
55match

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

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on 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.

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
SantiagoUshuaia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSantiagoUshuaia
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyChilean Peso (CLP)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCL220 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-4, UTC-3 in summerUTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132117 or 911
Elevation575 m23 m
Main airportComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureSantiagoUshuaia
City population6,257,51682,615
People per km²7,4683,592
Museums within 10 km545
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 Santiago 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.