VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
Fort Lovrijenac above the sea, Dubrovnik
DubrovnikFort Lovrijenac above the sea

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Dubrovnik by Natalia Semenova, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

AlUla or Dubrovnik?

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

  • wellness
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Dubrovnik for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Dubrovnik’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, Dubrovnik 74: Dubrovnik leads by 71 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Dubrovnik 47: Dubrovnik leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Dubrovnik 72: Dubrovnik leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Dubrovnik 37: Dubrovnik leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Dubrovnik 70: AlUla leads by 2 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Dubrovnik 66: Dubrovnik leads by 46 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Dubrovnik 50: Dubrovnik leads by 15 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Dubrovnik 60: Dubrovnik leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Dubrovnik 25: Dubrovnik leads by 10 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Dubrovnik 28: Dubrovnik leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Dubrovnik 25: AlUla leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Dubrovnik 32: AlUla leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Dubrovnik.

Your match

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

AlUla
30match

Wins on wellness and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Dubrovnik
Best match
49match

Wins on beaches 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.

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

Dubrovnik in July

29 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
29 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaDubrovnik

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.

Dubrovnik 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.

Dubrovnik's sunshine is measured 83 km from the centre, at Mostar.

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). Dubrovnik: 1999-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Dubrovnik / Cilipi (15.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaDubrovnik
Official languageArabicCroatian
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 m10 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsDubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport (DBV)16 km from centre76 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaDubrovnik
City population32,41341,562
Museums within 10 km27
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

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