VacationSelector
The Arctic Cathedral, Tromso
TromsoThe Arctic Cathedral
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Tromso by Moyan Brenn, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Tromso or Ushuaia?

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 Tromso for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • prices
  • shopping
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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. Tromso 8, Ushuaia 3: Tromso leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Tromso 36, Ushuaia 40: Ushuaia leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Tromso 27, Ushuaia 22: Tromso leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Tromso 38, Ushuaia 18: Tromso leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Tromso 92, Ushuaia 88: Tromso leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Tromso and Ushuaia are level on 14.
Good for families. Tromso 45, Ushuaia 40: Tromso leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Tromso 60, Ushuaia 45: Tromso leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Tromso 15, Ushuaia 22: Ushuaia leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Tromso 11, Ushuaia 42: Ushuaia leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Tromso 32, Ushuaia 10: Tromso leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Tromso 38, Ushuaia 26: Tromso leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Tromso and Ushuaia.

Your match

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

Tromso
Best match
35match

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

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on prices 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.

Tromso in July

16 °Cdaytime high
9 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
10 °Csea
24 hdaylight a day

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
No seasea
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-5°0°5°10°15°20°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
TromsoUshuaia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Tromso: 1991-2020 normals, Tromso (0.9 km from centre). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureTromsoUshuaia
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiSpanish
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110117 or 911
Elevation20 m23 m
Main airportTromsø Airport (TOS)4 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureTromsoUshuaia
City population79,94382,615
People per km²323,592
Museums within 10 km85
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Tromso or Ushuaia 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.