VacationSelector
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

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

Sarajevo or Xi'an?

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
  • beaches
  • nightlife

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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, Xi'an 4: Sarajevo leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Sarajevo 60, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Sarajevo 64, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Sarajevo 44, Xi'an 42: Sarajevo leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Sarajevo 78, Xi'an 62: Sarajevo leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Sarajevo 62, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Sarajevo 38, Xi'an 48: Xi'an leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Sarajevo 60, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Sarajevo 40, Xi'an 50: Xi'an leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Sarajevo and Xi'an are level on 80.
Live music & performing arts. Sarajevo and Xi'an are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Sarajevo 42, Xi'an 40: Sarajevo leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Sarajevo and Xi'an.

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 beaches with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights 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
15 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
SarajevoXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSarajevoXi'an
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 m405 m
Main airportSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year8 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureSarajevoXi'an
City population275,52412,952,907
People per km²1,9471,283
Museums within 10 km259
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Sarajevo or Xi'an 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. 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.