VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
A classic car in front of the Capitolio, Havana
HavanaA classic car in front of the Capitolio

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Havana by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

AlUla or Havana?

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
  • families

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

Choose Havana for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Havana’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, Havana 64: Havana leads by 61 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Havana 40: Havana leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Havana 77: Havana leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Havana 60: Havana leads by 55 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Havana 34: AlUla leads by 38 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Havana 38: Havana leads by 18 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Havana 34: AlUla leads by 1 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Havana 38: Havana leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Havana 30: Havana leads by 15 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Havana 58: Havana leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Havana 74: Havana leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Havana 22: AlUla leads by 23 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Havana.

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.

Havana
Best match
47match

Wins on beaches and nightlife 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 seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Havana in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
118 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaHavana

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.

Havana 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.

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). Havana: 1991-2020 normals, Casa Blanca, La Habana (3.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaHavana
Official languageArabicSpanish
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Cuban Peso (CUP)
SocketsG60 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112 or 911Police 106, ambulance 104, fire 105
Elevation692 m59 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsJosé Martí International Airport (HAV)17 km from centre21 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaHavana
City population32,4132,492,618
People per km²-3,423
Museums within 10 km212
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Havana 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. 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.