VacationSelector
The red cable car above Wellington, Wellington
WellingtonThe red cable car above Wellington
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Wellington by lumoplank, CC0; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Wellington or Wilmington?

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 Wellington for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’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. Wellington 33, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Wellington 62, Wilmington 48: Wellington leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Wellington 44, Wilmington 40: Wellington leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Wellington 45, Wilmington 40: Wellington leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Wellington 78, Wilmington 58: Wellington leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Wellington 40, Wilmington 45: Wilmington leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Wellington and Wilmington are level on 62.
Getting around. Wellington 68, Wilmington 28: Wellington leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Wellington 42, Wilmington 33: Wellington leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Wellington 33, Wilmington 42: Wilmington leads by 9 points.
Live music & performing arts. Wellington 56, Wilmington 40: Wellington leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Wellington 30, Wilmington 33: Wilmington leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Wellington and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Wellington
Best match
49match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Wellington in July

12 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
WellingtonWilmington

Where the figures come from

Wellington's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Paraparaumu Aerodrome.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Wellington: 1961-1990 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Wellington Aerodrome Aws (5.3 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureWellingtonWilmington
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori-
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation0 m9 m
Main airportWellington International Airport (WLG)5 km from centre20 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureWellingtonWilmington
City population216,200115,451
People per km²487839
Museums within 10 km122
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Wellington or Wilmington 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. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.