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 Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Abu Dhabi or Hanoi?

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

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

Choose Hanoi for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Hanoi’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, Hanoi 6: Abu Dhabi leads by 72 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Hanoi 85: Hanoi leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Hanoi 72: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Hanoi 50: Hanoi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Hanoi 52: Hanoi leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Hanoi 58: Hanoi leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Hanoi 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Hanoi 36: Hanoi leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi and Hanoi are level on 50.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Hanoi 98: Hanoi leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Hanoi 40: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi and Hanoi are level on 46.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Hanoi.

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.

Hanoi
Best match
52match

Wins on prices and food and drink 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

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiHanoi

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.

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

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). Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiHanoi
Official languageArabicVietnamese
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Dong (VND)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzACFG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+7
Emergency number112Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114
Elevation14 m10 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiHanoi
City population1,570,0008,717,600
People per km²1,6152,595
Museums within 10 km314
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 Hanoi 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.