VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
The twin towers of the cathedral over Plaza de Armas, Guadalajara
GuadalajaraThe twin towers of the cathedral over Plaza de Armas

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Guadalajara by Ponchomx, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

AlUla or Guadalajara?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Guadalajara for

  • nightlife
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Guadalajara’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, Guadalajara 5: Guadalajara leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Guadalajara 75: Guadalajara leads by 47 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Guadalajara 62: AlUla leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Guadalajara 68: Guadalajara leads by 63 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Guadalajara 55: AlUla leads by 17 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Guadalajara 66: Guadalajara leads by 46 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Guadalajara 55: Guadalajara leads by 20 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Guadalajara 40: Guadalajara leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Guadalajara 60: Guadalajara leads by 45 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Guadalajara 78: Guadalajara leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Guadalajara 60: Guadalajara leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Guadalajara 35: AlUla leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Guadalajara.

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.

Guadalajara
Best match
55match

Wins on nightlife 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

43 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Guadalajara in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
205 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaGuadalajara

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.

Guadalajara 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). Guadalajara: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaGuadalajara
Official languageArabicSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsG60 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-6
Emergency number112 or 911911
Elevation692 m1,536 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsGuadalajara International Airport (GDL)17 km from centre70 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaGuadalajara
City population32,4131,385,621
People per km²-9,556
Museums within 10 km217
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla or Guadalajara 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.