VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License.

AlUla or Amsterdam?

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 AlUla for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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

Choose Amsterdam for

  • nightlife
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Amsterdam’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. AlUla 3, Amsterdam 25: Amsterdam leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Amsterdam 58: Amsterdam leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Amsterdam 82: Amsterdam leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Amsterdam 77: Amsterdam leads by 72 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Amsterdam 47: AlUla leads by 25 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Amsterdam 87: Amsterdam leads by 67 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Amsterdam 72: Amsterdam leads by 37 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Amsterdam 86: Amsterdam leads by 71 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Amsterdam 68: Amsterdam leads by 53 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Amsterdam 22: Amsterdam leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Amsterdam 78: Amsterdam leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Amsterdam 42: AlUla leads by 3 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Amsterdam.

Your match

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

AlUla
30match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife 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.

AlUla in July

43 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaAmsterdam

Where the figures come from

AlUla 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.

Amsterdam 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.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. AlUla: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Alula / Al ‘Ulá (23.7 km from centre). Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaAmsterdam
Official languageArabicDutch
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112 or 911112
Elevation692 m-2 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaAmsterdam
City population32,413921,468
People per km²-4,208
Museums within 10 km2101
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla or Amsterdam 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. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.