VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Ushuaia?

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
  • families

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

Choose Ushuaia for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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, Ushuaia 3: Abu Dhabi leads by 75 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Ushuaia 40: Abu Dhabi leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Ushuaia 22: Abu Dhabi leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Ushuaia 18: Abu Dhabi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 60 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Ushuaia 14: Abu Dhabi leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Ushuaia 40: Abu Dhabi leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Ushuaia 45: Ushuaia leads by 21 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Ushuaia 22: Abu Dhabi leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Ushuaia 42: Ushuaia leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Ushuaia 10: Abu Dhabi leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Ushuaia 26: Abu Dhabi leads by 20 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Ushuaia
31match

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

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
No seasea
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

01020304050JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiUshuaia

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). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiUshuaia
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 m23 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiUshuaia
City population1,570,00082,615
People per km²1,6153,592
Museums within 10 km35
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Ushuaia 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.