VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Izmir?

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 Izmir for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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, Izmir 62: Abu Dhabi leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Izmir 55: Abu Dhabi leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Izmir 55: Abu Dhabi leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Izmir 63: Izmir leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Izmir 48: Izmir leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 11 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Izmir.

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on families and beaches with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on day trips 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

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiIzmir

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). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiIzmir
Official languageArabicTurkish
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m2 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiIzmir
City population1,570,0004,493,242
People per km²1,6154,760
Museums within 10 km329
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 Izmir 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.