VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The Santa Catalina arch below Volcan de Agua, Antigua Guatemala
Antigua GuatemalaThe Santa Catalina arch below Volcan de Agua

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Antigua Guatemala by Chad Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Abu Dhabi or Antigua Guatemala?

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 Abu Dhabi for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Antigua Guatemala for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Antigua Guatemala’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. Abu Dhabi 78, Antigua Guatemala 6: Abu Dhabi leads by 72 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Antigua Guatemala 48: Abu Dhabi leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Antigua Guatemala 68: Antigua Guatemala leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi and Antigua Guatemala are level on 34.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Antigua Guatemala 78: Antigua Guatemala leads by 50 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Antigua Guatemala 55: Antigua Guatemala leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Antigua Guatemala 38: Abu Dhabi leads by 44 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Antigua Guatemala 60: Antigua Guatemala leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Antigua Guatemala 45: Abu Dhabi leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Antigua Guatemala 67: Antigua Guatemala leads by 29 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Antigua Guatemala 22: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Antigua Guatemala 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Antigua Guatemala.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Antigua Guatemala
47match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Abu Dhabi in July

43 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Antigua Guatemala in July

25 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
188 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiAntigua Guatemala

Where the figures come from

Abu Dhabi's temperatures are measured 26 km from the centre, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Antigua Guatemala has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Abu Dhabi: 1991-2020 normals, Abu Dhabi International Airport (25.7 km from centre). Antigua Guatemala: 1998-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Guatemala Aeropuertola Aurora (23.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiAntigua Guatemala
Official languageArabicSpanish
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Quetzal (GTQ)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-6
Emergency number112Police 110/120, ambulance 128, fire 123
Elevation14 m1,582 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsLa Aurora International Airport (GUA)22 km from centre19 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiAntigua Guatemala
City population1,570,00059,091
People per km²1,615-
Museums within 10 km32
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Antigua Guatemala 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.