Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Galle by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
AlUla or Galle?
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
- live music and the arts
- culture and sights
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on AlUla’s own page.
Choose Galle for
- beaches
- prices
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Galle’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Galle.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and prices 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
Galle in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
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.
Galle has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
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). Galle: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | AlUla | Galle |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Arabic | Tamil, Sinhala |
| Currency | Saudi Riyal (SAR) | Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) |
| Sockets | G60 Hz | GM230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+3 | UTC+5:30 |
| Emergency number | 112 or 911 | Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110 |
| Elevation | 692 m | 0 m |
| Main airport | Al-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinations | Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)133 km from centre56 non-stop destinations |
By the numbers
| Measure | AlUla | Galle |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 32,413 | 93,118 |
| Museums within 10 km | 2 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 2 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | - | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla or Galle somewhere new.