VacationSelector
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
TokyoShibuya Crossing
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Tokyo by Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Tokyo or Zurich?

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 Tokyo for

  • food and drink
  • prices
  • shopping

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

Choose Zurich for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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. Tokyo 40, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Tokyo 98, Zurich 53: Tokyo leads by 45 points.
Culture & sights. Tokyo 84, Zurich 58: Tokyo leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Tokyo 86, Zurich 62: Tokyo leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Tokyo 68, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Tokyo 85, Zurich 84: Tokyo leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Tokyo 95, Zurich 76: Tokyo leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Tokyo 98, Zurich 95: Tokyo leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Tokyo 99, Zurich 66: Tokyo leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Tokyo 48, Zurich 3: Tokyo leads by 45 points.
Live music & performing arts. Tokyo 86, Zurich 70: Tokyo leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Tokyo 78, Zurich 58: Tokyo leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Tokyo and Zurich.

Your match

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

Tokyo
Best match
80match

Wins on food and drink and prices with your weighting.

Zurich
63match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Tokyo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
157 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
TokyoZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Tokyo: 1991-2020 normals, Tokyo (3.6 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureTokyoZurich
Official languageJapaneseFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyYen (JPY)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119112
Elevation6 m408 m
Main airportTokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)18 km from centre98 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureTokyoZurich
City population14,264,798440,935
People per km²6,5015,016
Museums within 10 km19263
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Tokyo or Zurich 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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. 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.

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.