VacationSelector
São Paulo Cathedral, Sao Paulo
Sao PauloSão Paulo Cathedral
Hanok houses in Bukchon, Seoul
SeoulHanok houses in Bukchon

Photos: Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Seoul by 거열 박, Pexels License.

Sao Paulo or Seoul?

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 Sao Paulo for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • prices

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

Choose Seoul for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Seoul’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. Sao Paulo 42, Seoul 18: Sao Paulo leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Sao Paulo and Seoul are level on 84.
Culture & sights. Sao Paulo 60, Seoul 75: Seoul leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Sao Paulo 86, Seoul 84: Sao Paulo leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Sao Paulo 48, Seoul 75: Seoul leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Sao Paulo 47, Seoul 77: Seoul leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Sao Paulo 52, Seoul 80: Seoul leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Sao Paulo 44, Seoul 87: Seoul leads by 43 points.
Shopping & style. Sao Paulo 70, Seoul 85: Seoul leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Sao Paulo 62, Seoul 50: Sao Paulo leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Sao Paulo 76, Seoul 63: Sao Paulo leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Sao Paulo 25, Seoul 75: Seoul leads by 50 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Sao Paulo and Seoul.

Your match

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

Sao Paulo
58match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Seoul
Best match
71match

Wins on wellness 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.

Sao Paulo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
53 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Seoul in July

29 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
422 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
Sao PauloSeoul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre). Seoul: 1991-2020 normals, Seoul (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSao PauloSeoul
Official languagePortugueseKorean, Korean Sign Language
CurrencyBrazilian Real (BRL)Won (KRW)
SocketsCN60 HzCF220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 190, ambulance 192, fire 193Police 112, ambulance 119, fire 119
Elevation760 m38 m
Main airportSão Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsIncheon International Airport (ICN)49 km from centre162 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureSao PauloSeoul
City population11,451,9999,668,465
People per km²7,51915,973
Museums within 10 km9081
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Sao Paulo or Seoul 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.