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 Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms, Tangier
TangierThe Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Tangier by Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Abu Dhabi or Tangier?

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
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Tangier for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Tangier’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, Tangier 50: Abu Dhabi leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Tangier 58: Tangier leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Tangier 57: Abu Dhabi leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Tangier 30: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Tangier 55: Tangier leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Tangier 72: Tangier leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Tangier 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Tangier 40: Tangier leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Tangier 42: Abu Dhabi leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Tangier 76: Tangier leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Tangier 28: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Tangier 50: Tangier leads by 4 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on families and beaches with your weighting.

Tangier
49match

Wins on prices 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

Tangier in July

29 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiTangier

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). Tangier: 1991-2020 normals, Tanger Aerodrome (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiTangier
Official languageArabicArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation14 m56 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsTangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG)11 km from centre50 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiTangier
City population1,570,0001,275,428
People per km²1,6156,393
Museums within 10 km36
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Tangier 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.