VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
BolognaSan Petronio on Piazza Maggiore

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Bologna by Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

AlUla or Bologna?

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 Bologna for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Bologna’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, Bologna 30: Bologna leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Bologna 82: Bologna leads by 54 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Bologna 77: Bologna leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Bologna 58: Bologna leads by 53 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Bologna 52: AlUla leads by 20 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Bologna 95: Bologna leads by 75 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Bologna 50: Bologna leads by 15 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Bologna 76: Bologna leads by 61 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Bologna 55: Bologna leads by 40 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Bologna 48: Bologna leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Bologna 60: Bologna leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Bologna 40: AlUla leads by 5 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Bologna
Best match
60match

Wins on day trips 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
14 hdaylight a day

Bologna in July

32 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
39 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaBologna

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.

Bologna 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.

Bologna's sunshine is measured 82 km from the centre, at Cervia.

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). Bologna: 1991-2020 normals, Bologna / Borgo Panigale (5.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaBologna
Official languageArabicItalian
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112 or 911112
Elevation692 m54 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsBologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)6 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaBologna
City population32,413387,971
People per km²-2,754
Museums within 10 km268
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla or Bologna 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. 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.