VacationSelector
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
BerlinThe Brandenburg Gate
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Berlin by Claudia Solano, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Berlin 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 Berlin for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • 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. Berlin 38, Samarkand 4: Berlin leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Berlin 66, Samarkand 54: Berlin leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Berlin 86, Samarkand 84: Berlin leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Berlin 98, Samarkand 14: Berlin leads by 84 points.
Nature & outdoors. Berlin 50, Samarkand 40: Berlin leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Berlin 66, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Berlin 76, Samarkand 30: Berlin leads by 46 points.
Getting around. Berlin 82, Samarkand 58: Berlin leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Berlin 68, Samarkand 42: Berlin leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Berlin 48, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Berlin 90, Samarkand 24: Berlin leads by 66 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Berlin 55, Samarkand 32: Berlin leads by 23 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Berlin and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Berlin
Best match
69match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices 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.

Berlin in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
76 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
BerlinSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Berlin: 1991-2020 normals, Berlin / Alexanderplatz (0.9 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBerlinSamarkand
Official languageGermanUzbek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number112112
Elevation34 m702 m
Main airportBerlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)19 km from centre161 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBerlinSamarkand
City population3,700,577546,303
People per km²4,1535,058
Museums within 10 km15711
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Berlin 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.