VacationSelector
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía
The Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb
ZagrebThe Croatian National Theatre

Photos: Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zagreb by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Santiago 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 Santiago for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Zagreb for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • prices

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. Santiago 12, Zagreb 10: Santiago leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Santiago 60, Zagreb 55: Santiago leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Santiago 52, Zagreb 56: Zagreb leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Santiago 60, Zagreb 47: Santiago leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Santiago 83, Zagreb 62: Santiago leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Santiago 70, Zagreb 60: Santiago leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Santiago 57, Zagreb 52: Santiago leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Santiago 68, Zagreb 70: Zagreb leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Santiago 52, Zagreb 40: Santiago leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Santiago 58, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Santiago 55, Zagreb 52: Santiago leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Santiago 37, Zagreb 33: Santiago leads by 4 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Santiago and Zagreb.

Your match

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

Santiago
Best match
55match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

Zagreb
50match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around 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

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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
SantiagoZagreb

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre). Zagreb: 1991-2020 normals, Zagreb / Gric (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSantiagoZagreb
Official languageSpanishCroatian
CurrencyChilean Peso (CLP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCL220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-4, UTC-3 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132112
Elevation575 m127 m
Main airportComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinationsZagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG)11 km from centre64 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureSantiagoZagreb
City population6,257,516767,131
People per km²7,468-
Museums within 10 km5427
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 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.