VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
The cathedral facade, Siena
SienaThe cathedral facade

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Siena by Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

AlUla or Siena?

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

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

Choose Siena for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Siena’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, Siena 14: Siena leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Siena 62: Siena leads by 34 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Siena 78: Siena leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Siena 27: Siena leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Siena 65: AlUla leads by 7 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Siena 94: Siena leads by 74 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Siena 38: Siena leads by 3 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Siena 60: Siena leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Siena 35: Siena leads by 20 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Siena 42: Siena leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Siena 36: Siena leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Siena 55: Siena leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Siena.

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 with your weighting.

Siena
Best match
51match

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
14 hdaylight a day

Siena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
27 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaSiena

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.

Siena's temperatures are measured 45 km from the centre, at Arezzo.

Siena 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). Siena: 2006-2017 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Arezzo (45 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaSiena
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 m322 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsFlorence Airport, Peretola (FLR)55 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaSiena
City population32,41352,812
People per km²-446
Museums within 10 km230
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15

Where else could you go?

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