VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
A painted funicular on the hillside, Valparaiso
ValparaisoA painted funicular on the hillside

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

AlUla or Valparaiso?

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

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Valparaiso for

  • nightlife
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Valparaiso’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, Valparaiso 36: Valparaiso leads by 33 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Valparaiso 50: Valparaiso leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Valparaiso 62: AlUla leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Valparaiso 56: Valparaiso leads by 51 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Valparaiso 60: AlUla leads by 12 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Valparaiso 63: Valparaiso leads by 43 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Valparaiso 33: AlUla leads by 2 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Valparaiso 44: Valparaiso leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Valparaiso 30: Valparaiso leads by 15 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Valparaiso 38: Valparaiso leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Valparaiso 18: AlUla leads by 27 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

AlUla
30match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Valparaiso
Best match
46match

Wins on nightlife and day trips 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

Valparaiso in July

15 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
71 mmrain in the month
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaValparaiso

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.

Valparaiso 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). Valparaiso: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Viña Del Mar / Montemar (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaValparaiso
Official languageArabicSpanish
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsG60 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number112 or 911Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation692 m21 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)87 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaValparaiso
City population32,413296,655
People per km²-6,180
Museums within 10 km217
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

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