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 skyline reflected in the water, The Hague
The HagueThe skyline reflected in the water

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; The Hague by Bráulio jardim, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or The Hague?

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
  • food and drink

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

Choose The Hague for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on The Hague’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, The Hague 38: Abu Dhabi leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, The Hague 48: Abu Dhabi leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, The Hague 66: The Hague leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, The Hague 38: The Hague leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, The Hague 52: The Hague leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, The Hague 86: The Hague leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, The Hague 72: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, The Hague 78: The Hague leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, The Hague 55: The Hague leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, The Hague 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, The Hague 58: The Hague leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, The Hague 45: Abu Dhabi leads by 1 points.
0255075100

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

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.

The Hague
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around 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

The Hague in July

21 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiThe Hague

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.

The Hague 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.

The Hague's sunshine is measured 60 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

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). The Hague: 1991-2020 normals, Valkenburg (13.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiThe Hague
Official languageArabicDutch
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 m1 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)16 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiThe Hague
City population1,570,000548,320
People per km²1,6155,589
Museums within 10 km354
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km04
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

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