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 Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule, Munich
MunichThe Frauenkirche towers and the Mariensäule

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Munich by 0xd1ma, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Munich?

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
  • prices
  • families

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

Choose Munich for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Munich’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, Munich 28: Abu Dhabi leads by 50 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Munich 62: Munich leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Munich 79: Munich leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Munich 56: Munich leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Munich 82: Munich leads by 54 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Munich 86: Munich leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Munich 78: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Munich 86: Munich leads by 62 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Munich 72: Munich leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Munich 32: Abu Dhabi leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Munich 84: Munich leads by 52 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Munich 62: Munich leads by 16 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Munich
Best match
67match

Wins on getting around 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

Munich in July

25 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiMunich

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). Munich: 1991-2020 normals, München (1.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiMunich
Official languageArabicGerman
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m519 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsMunich Airport (MUC)29 km from centre210 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiMunich
City population1,570,0001,505,036
People per km²1,6154,844
Museums within 10 km374
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 Munich 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). 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.