VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Taipei 101 and the skyline from Elephant Mountain, Taipei
TaipeiTaipei 101 and the skyline from Elephant Mountain

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Taipei by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Abu Dhabi or Taipei?

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

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

Choose Taipei for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Taipei’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, Taipei 40: Abu Dhabi leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Taipei 88: Taipei leads by 33 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Taipei 68: Taipei leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Taipei 58: Taipei leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Taipei 78: Taipei leads by 50 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Taipei 76: Taipei leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Taipei 72: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Taipei 86: Taipei leads by 62 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Taipei 70: Taipei leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Taipei 66: Taipei leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Taipei 55: Taipei leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Taipei 80: Taipei leads by 34 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Taipei
Best match
70match

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

Taipei in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
288 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiTaipei

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.

Taipei 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). Taipei: 1992-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Sungshan / Taipei (3.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiTaipei
Official languageArabicTaiwanese Sign Language, Amis, Taiwanese Hokkien, Rukai, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Standard Taiwanese Mandarin, Paiwan, Yami, Atayal, Saaroa, Kavalan, Tsou, Seediq, Puyuma, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Taiwanese Hakka, Truku, Matsu dialect, Kinmen dialect, Wuqiu dialect
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)New Taiwan Dollar (TWD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+8
Emergency number112110 or 112 or 119
Elevation14 m10 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsTaiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE)33 km from centre

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiTaipei
City population1,570,0002,429,429
People per km²1,6158,938
Museums within 10 km369
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months8 months

Where else could you go?

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