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 Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Manila?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Manila for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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, Manila 12: Abu Dhabi leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Manila 64: Manila leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Manila 54: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Manila 64: Manila leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Manila 40: Manila leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Manila 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Manila 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Manila 26: Manila leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Manila 60: Manila leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Manila 77: Manila leads by 39 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Manila 50: Manila leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Manila 40: Abu Dhabi leads by 6 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiManila

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). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiManila
Official languageArabicEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+8
Emergency number112911
Elevation14 m9 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-18 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiManila
City population1,570,0001,902,590
People per km²1,61576,104
Museums within 10 km327
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months12 months

Where else could you go?

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