VacationSelector
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Sarajevo or Shanghai?

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 Sarajevo for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • families
  • shopping
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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. Sarajevo 6, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Sarajevo 60, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Sarajevo 64, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Sarajevo 44, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Sarajevo 78, Shanghai 25: Sarajevo leads by 53 points.
Day trips. Sarajevo 62, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Sarajevo 38, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Sarajevo 60, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Sarajevo 40, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 42 points.
Affordability. Sarajevo 80, Shanghai 55: Sarajevo leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Sarajevo 40, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Sarajevo 42, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Sarajevo and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Sarajevo
51match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on families and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
SarajevoShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSarajevoShanghai
Official languageCroatian, Serbian, BosnianPutonghua
CurrencyConvertible Mark (BAM)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation518 m4 m
Main airportSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year8 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureSarajevoShanghai
City population275,52424,870,895
People per km²1,9473,922
Museums within 10 km2545
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Sarajevo or Shanghai 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.