Convert times between cities in a tap
Coordinating a call across countries or catching a livestream at the right local hour means juggling time-zone maths in your head — easy to get wrong, especially around daylight saving changes. Pick two cities and a time and this converter does it for you, showing the equivalent local time and flagging when it crosses into the next or previous day.
Daylight saving, handled for you
The tool uses each city's real time zone rather than a fixed offset, so it follows daylight saving time automatically wherever it applies. That matters because the gap between, say, New York and London isn't always five hours — it shifts by an hour for a few weeks each spring and autumn when the two regions change clocks on different dates.
Handy for work, travel and family
Use it to schedule meetings that don't wake anyone at 3 a.m., to plan calls with family abroad, or to know exactly when an online event starts in your own time. It covers major cities across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania, plus UTC as a neutral reference point that never changes.
How time zones and UTC work
Every time zone is an offset from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), the world's reference clock. New York in winter is UTC−5, Madrid is UTC+1, Tokyo is UTC+9. A world time zone map shows those bands across the globe, with a shaded half for where it is night at any UTC time. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) sits at UTC+0 and is often used interchangeably, though UTC is the modern, more precise standard.
There are 24 main one-hour zones, but the real count is higher: some places use 30- or 45-minute offsets — India is UTC+5:30, Nepal UTC+5:45 — and daylight saving splits many regions into two offsets across the year.
UTC offsets of major cities
Standard-time offsets for well-known cities. Where daylight saving applies, it shifts them one hour later in summer:
| City | UTC | Daylight saving |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | −8 | Yes (−7) |
| Chicago | −6 | Yes (−5) |
| New York | −5 | Yes (−4) |
| London | 0 | Yes (+1) |
| Madrid · Paris · Berlin | +1 | Yes (+2) |
| Athens · Cairo | +2 | Varies |
| Moscow | +3 | No |
| Dubai | +4 | No |
| India | +5:30 | No |
| Bangkok | +7 | No |
| Beijing · Singapore | +8 | No |
| Tokyo | +9 | No |
| Sydney | +10 | Yes (+11) |
| Auckland | +12 | Yes (+13) |
Offsets can change; a few regions revise their rules from year to year.
Daylight saving — and the move to make it permanent
Twice a year most of North America and Europe shift their clocks by an hour, and that is exactly when time-zone maths trips people up: for a couple of weeks the usual gap between two cities is off by an hour because they change on different dates. There is a long-running debate about scrapping the switch and keeping one time all year. For what "permanent daylight saving" would actually change — darker winter mornings, lighter evenings — read the permanent daylight saving debate.
Frequently asked questions
Does it account for daylight saving time?
Yes. It uses each city's IANA time zone, so daylight saving is applied automatically based on the current date.
Which date does it use?
Today's date, so the conversion reflects the current daylight-saving status of both cities.
How do I convert between two time zones?
Add or subtract the difference in UTC offsets between the two zones. The tool does it for any pair of cities so you do not have to count the hours.
What is UTC?
Coordinated Universal Time, the world's reference clock. Every zone is written as an offset from it, such as UTC−5 for New York in winter.
Does it handle daylight saving time?
Yes — it accounts for daylight saving where it applies, so the difference is correct for the date you pick.
What's the difference between UTC and GMT?
Day to day they are the same clock at UTC+0. UTC is the modern standard kept by atomic clocks; GMT is the older astronomical time based on the sun at Greenwich.
How many time zones are there?
There are 24 main one-hour zones, but around 38 in practice once you count 30- and 45-minute offsets and the extra offsets created by daylight saving.
Why do some zones have 30- or 45-minute offsets?
For historical and geographic reasons. India (+5:30), Nepal (+5:45) and parts of Australia use them so local noon lines up better with the sun.
What is permanent daylight saving time?
Keeping summer time all year instead of switching clocks twice. It means lighter evenings but darker winter mornings — see our explainer on the debate.