VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Valletta?

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
  • wellness
  • shopping

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

Choose Valletta for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi and Valletta are level on 55.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Valletta 46: Valletta leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Valletta 56: Valletta leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Valletta 58: Abu Dhabi leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Valletta 62: Valletta leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Valletta 38: Abu Dhabi leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Valletta 50: Valletta leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Valletta 44: Valletta leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Valletta 32: Abu Dhabi leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Valletta.

Your match

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

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on families and wellness with your weighting.

Valletta
Best match
55match

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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiValletta

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). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiValletta
Official languageArabicEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m56 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiValletta
City population1,570,0005,197
People per km²1,6156,496
Museums within 10 km316
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months6 months

Where else could you go?

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