VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
Florence and the Arno, Florence
FlorenceFlorence and the Arno

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Florence by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License.

AlUla or Florence?

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 Florence for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Florence’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, Florence 14: Florence leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Florence 74: Florence leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Florence 94: Florence leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Florence 42: Florence leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Florence 58: AlUla leads by 14 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Florence 98: Florence leads by 78 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Florence 45: Florence leads by 10 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Florence 78: Florence leads by 63 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Florence 72: Florence leads by 57 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Florence 35: Florence leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Florence 58: Florence leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Florence 42: AlUla leads by 3 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Florence
Best match
59match

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

Florence in July

32 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
37 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaFlorence

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.

Florence 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.

Florence's sunshine is measured 71 km from the centre, at Pisa / S. Giusto.

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). Florence: 1995-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Firenze / Peretola (5.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaFlorence
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 m50 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsFlorence Airport, Peretola (FLR)6 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaFlorence
City population32,413360,930
People per km²-3,528
Museums within 10 km2141
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km14

Where else could you go?

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