VacationSelector
The Arctic Cathedral, Tromso
TromsoThe Arctic Cathedral
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Tromso by Moyan Brenn, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Tromso 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 Tromso for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Zurich for

  • day trips
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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. Tromso 8, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Tromso 36, Zurich 53: Zurich leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Tromso 27, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Tromso 38, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Tromso 92, Zurich 80: Tromso leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Tromso 14, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 70 points.
Good for families. Tromso 45, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 31 points.
Getting around. Tromso 60, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Tromso 15, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 51 points.
Affordability. Tromso 11, Zurich 3: Tromso leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Tromso 32, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Tromso 38, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Tromso and Zurich.

Your match

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

Tromso
35match

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

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on day trips 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

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

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
TromsoZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Tromso: 1991-2020 normals, Tromso (0.9 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureTromsoZurich
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110112
Elevation20 m408 m
Main airportTromsø Airport (TOS)4 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureTromsoZurich
City population79,943440,935
People per km²325,016
Museums within 10 km863
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 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). 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.