VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Auckland or Samarkand?

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

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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, Samarkand 4: Auckland leads by 64 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Samarkand 54: Auckland leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Samarkand 14: Auckland leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Samarkand 40: Auckland leads by 43 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Samarkand 30: Auckland leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Samarkand 42: Auckland leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Samarkand 24: Auckland leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Samarkand 32: Auckland leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

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

Samarkand
45match

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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandSamarkand

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandSamarkand
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriUzbek
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m702 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandSamarkand
City population1,470,100546,303
People per km²2,6305,058
Museums within 10 km1511
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

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