VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Muscat?

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 Auckland for

  • nightlife
  • getting around
  • food and drink

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

Choose Muscat for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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. Auckland 68, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Muscat 44: Auckland leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Muscat 14: Auckland leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Muscat 70: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Muscat 62: Muscat leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Muscat 52: Auckland leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Muscat 20: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Muscat 42: Auckland leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Muscat 45: Muscat leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Muscat 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Muscat.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on nightlife and getting around with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandMuscat

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandMuscat
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriArabic
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+4
Emergency number111968
Elevation196 m69 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandMuscat
City population1,470,1001,421,409
People per km²2,630406
Museums within 10 km1510
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Muscat 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.