VacationSelector
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Vienna 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 Vienna for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Zurich for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife

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. Vienna 27, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Vienna 68, Zurich 53: Vienna leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Vienna 89, Zurich 58: Vienna leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Vienna 50, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Vienna 62, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Vienna 74, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Vienna 77, Zurich 76: Vienna leads by 1 points.
Getting around. Vienna 90, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Vienna 62, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Vienna 44, Zurich 3: Vienna leads by 41 points.
Live music & performing arts. Vienna 96, Zurich 70: Vienna leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Vienna and Zurich are level on 58.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Vienna and Zurich.

Your match

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

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Zurich
63match

Wins on beaches 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
16 hdaylight a day

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ViennaZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureViennaZurich
Official languageGerman, Austrian Sign LanguageFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyEuro (EUR)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 number112112
Elevation151 m408 m
Main airportVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureViennaZurich
City population2,028,289440,935
People per km²4,8905,016
Museums within 10 km15263
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Vienna 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. 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. 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.