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 Gateway of India under a blue sky, Mumbai
MumbaiThe Gateway of India under a blue sky

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Mumbai by Shubam Bhasin, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Mumbai?

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 Mumbai for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Mumbai’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, Mumbai 18: Abu Dhabi leads by 60 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Mumbai 82: Mumbai leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Mumbai 70: Mumbai leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Mumbai 52: Mumbai leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Mumbai 55: Mumbai leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Mumbai 48: Mumbai leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Mumbai 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Mumbai 38: Mumbai leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Mumbai 66: Mumbai leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Mumbai 72: Mumbai leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Mumbai 55: Mumbai leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Mumbai 24: Abu Dhabi leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Mumbai.

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.

Mumbai
Best match
51match

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

Mumbai in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
860 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

02004006008001000JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiMumbai

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). Mumbai: 1991-2020 normals, Bombay / Santacruz (5.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiMumbai
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 m14 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)2 km from centre122 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiMumbai
City population1,570,00015,414,288
People per km²1,61525,563
Museums within 10 km31
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
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 Mumbai 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.