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 Hassan II Mosque and its minaret, Casablanca
CasablancaThe Hassan II Mosque and its minaret

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Casablanca by Samir Bakkah, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Casablanca?

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

  • families
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Casablanca for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Casablanca’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, Casablanca 50: Abu Dhabi leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Casablanca 60: Casablanca leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Casablanca 52: Abu Dhabi leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Casablanca 44: Casablanca leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Casablanca 33: Casablanca leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Casablanca 55: Casablanca leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Casablanca 38: Abu Dhabi leads by 44 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Casablanca 42: Casablanca leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi and Casablanca are level on 50.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Casablanca 68: Casablanca leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Casablanca 38: Casablanca leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Casablanca 52: Casablanca leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Casablanca.

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 families and beaches with your weighting.

Casablanca
49match

Wins on prices 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

Casablanca in July

26 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiCasablanca

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.

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). Casablanca: 1991-2020 normals, Casablanca (5.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiCasablanca
Official languageArabicArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation14 m115 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsMohammed V International Airport (CMN)26 km from centre112 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiCasablanca
City population1,570,0003,215,935
People per km²1,6158,375
Museums within 10 km33
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Casablanca 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.