VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

AlUla or Varanasi?

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
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Varanasi for

  • prices
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’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, Varanasi 4: Varanasi leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Varanasi 10: Varanasi leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Varanasi 18: AlUla leads by 54 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Varanasi 42: Varanasi leads by 22 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Varanasi 5: AlUla leads by 30 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Varanasi 28: Varanasi leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 40 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Varanasi 92: Varanasi leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Varanasi 30: AlUla leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Varanasi.

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 families with your weighting.

Varanasi
Best match
40match

Wins on prices and shopping 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

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaVaranasi

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.

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

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaVaranasi
Official languageArabicHindi, English
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsG60 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+5:30
Emergency number112 or 911108 or 112
Elevation692 m76 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaVaranasi
City population32,4131,198,491
People per km²-14,598
Museums within 10 km22
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

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