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 Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Puerto Iguazu?

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
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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

Choose Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’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, Puerto Iguazu 5: Abu Dhabi leads by 73 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Puerto Iguazu 28: Abu Dhabi leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Puerto Iguazu 9: Abu Dhabi leads by 55 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Puerto Iguazu 14: Abu Dhabi leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Puerto Iguazu 95: Puerto Iguazu leads by 67 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Puerto Iguazu 33: Abu Dhabi leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Puerto Iguazu 55: Abu Dhabi leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Puerto Iguazu 54: Puerto Iguazu leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Puerto Iguazu 17: Abu Dhabi leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Puerto Iguazu 48: Puerto Iguazu leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Puerto Iguazu 7: Abu Dhabi leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Puerto Iguazu 34: Abu Dhabi leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
Best match
48match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around 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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiPuerto Iguazu

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). Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiPuerto Iguazu
Official languageArabicSpanish
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-3
Emergency number112117 or 911
Elevation14 m162 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiPuerto Iguazu
City population1,570,00054,903
People per km²1,615-
Museums within 10 km30
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 Puerto Iguazu 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). 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.