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 golden Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
JerusalemThe golden Dome of the Rock

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Jerusalem by Yasir Gürbüz, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Jerusalem?

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
  • prices

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

Choose Jerusalem for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Jerusalem’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, Jerusalem 40: Abu Dhabi leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Jerusalem 66: Jerusalem leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Jerusalem 92: Jerusalem leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Jerusalem 38: Jerusalem leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Jerusalem 60: Jerusalem leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Jerusalem 80: Jerusalem leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Jerusalem 52: Abu Dhabi leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Jerusalem 55: Jerusalem leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Jerusalem 48: Abu Dhabi leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Jerusalem 20: Abu Dhabi leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Jerusalem 40: Jerusalem leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Jerusalem 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem.

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.

Jerusalem
Best match
53match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors 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

Jerusalem in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiJerusalem

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.

Jerusalem 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). Jerusalem: 1991-2020 normals, Jerusalem (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiJerusalem
Official languageArabicHebrew
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)New Israeli Sheqel (ILS)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCHM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 100, fire 102
Elevation14 m754 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)42 km from centre111 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiJerusalem
City population1,570,0001,050,151
People per km²1,6158,374
Museums within 10 km369
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km07
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months7 months

Where else could you go?

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