VacationSelector
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz
The US Capitol, Washington DC
Washington DCThe US Capitol

Photos: Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped; Washington DC by Guohua Song, Pexels License.

Vienna or Washington DC?

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 Vienna for

  • wellness
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Washington DC for

  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Washington DC’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. Vienna 27, Washington DC 12: Vienna leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Vienna 68, Washington DC 67: Vienna leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Vienna 89, Washington DC 84: Vienna leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Vienna 50, Washington DC 57: Washington DC leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Vienna 62, Washington DC 64: Washington DC leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Vienna 74, Washington DC 73: Vienna leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Vienna 77, Washington DC 73: Vienna leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Vienna 90, Washington DC 72: Vienna leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Vienna 62, Washington DC 52: Vienna leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Vienna 44, Washington DC 28: Vienna leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Vienna 96, Washington DC 67: Vienna leads by 29 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Vienna 58, Washington DC 26: Vienna leads by 32 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Vienna and Washington DC.

Your match

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

Vienna
Best match
66match

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

Washington DC
56match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Washington DC in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
108 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ViennaWashington DC

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre). Washington DC: 1991-2020 normals, Washington National Airport (5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureViennaWashington DC
Official languageGerman, Austrian Sign Language-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation151 m72 m
Main airportVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinationsRonald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)5 km from centre105 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureViennaWashington DC
City population2,028,289689,545
People per km²4,8903,896
Museums within 10 km15298
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km30
Swim season, months above 21 °C-3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Vienna or Washington DC 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.