VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Palermo Cathedral, Palermo
PalermoPalermo Cathedral

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Palermo by Antonino Giangrasso, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Palermo?

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
  • wellness
  • shopping

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

Choose Palermo for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Palermo’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, Palermo 77: Abu Dhabi leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Palermo 81: Palermo leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Palermo 80: Palermo leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Palermo 58: Palermo leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Palermo 72: Palermo leads by 44 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Palermo 84: Palermo leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Palermo 44: Abu Dhabi leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Palermo 50: Palermo leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Palermo 44: Abu Dhabi leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Palermo 63: Palermo leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Palermo 62: Palermo leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Palermo 30: Abu Dhabi leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Palermo.

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on families and wellness with your weighting.

Palermo
Best match
62match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips 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

Palermo in July

29 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiPalermo

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.

Palermo 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.

Palermo's sunshine is measured 67 km from the centre, at Ustica.

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). Palermo: 1991-2020 (sunshine 1961-1990) normals, Palermo / Punta Raisi (24.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiPalermo
Official languageArabicItalian
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m14 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsFalcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO)25 km from centre106 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiPalermo
City population1,570,000630,167
People per km²1,6153,924
Museums within 10 km342
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Palermo 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.