VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
India Gate behind its flower beds, Delhi
DelhiIndia Gate behind its flower beds

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Delhi by shalender kumar, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Delhi?

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
  • wellness

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

Choose Delhi for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Delhi’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, Delhi 4: Abu Dhabi leads by 74 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Delhi 84: Delhi leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Delhi 85: Delhi leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Delhi 44: Delhi leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Delhi 20: Abu Dhabi leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Delhi 68: Delhi leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Delhi 32: Abu Dhabi leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Delhi 55: Delhi leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Delhi 78: Delhi leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Delhi 90: Delhi leads by 52 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Delhi 55: Delhi leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Delhi 25: Abu Dhabi leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Delhi.

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Delhi
Best match
53match

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

Delhi in July

36 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
190 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiDelhi

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). Delhi: 1991-2020 normals, New Delhi / Safdarjung (9.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiDelhi
Official languageArabicHindi, English
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+5:30
Emergency number112108 or 112
Elevation14 m221 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsIndira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)17 km from centre144 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiDelhi
City population1,570,00026,495,000
People per km²1,61518,962
Museums within 10 km323
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km04
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 Delhi 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. 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.