Photos: Cairns by Donaldytong, Public domain; Sharm el-Sheikh by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Cairns or Sharm el-Sheikh?
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 Cairns for
- getting around
- day trips
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Cairns’s own page.
Choose Sharm el-Sheikh for
- prices
- beaches
- wellness
What lies behind each score is written up on Sharm el-Sheikh’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairns and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.
Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Cairns in July
Sharm el-Sheikh in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Cairns's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Green Island Aws.
Cairns 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.
Sharm el-Sheikh 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. Cairns: 1993-2010 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Green Island Aws (27 km from centre). Sharm el-Sheikh: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Cairns | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English | Arabic |
| Currency | Australian Dollar (AUD) | Egyptian Pound (EGP) |
| Sockets | I230 V, 50 Hz | CF220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+10 | UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer |
| Emergency number | 000 | Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180 |
| Elevation | 7 m | 1 m |
| Main airport | Cairns International Airport (CNS)6 km from centre32 non-stop destinations | Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH)16 km from centre112 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 15 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cairns | Sharm el-Sheikh |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 146,778 | 73,000 |
| People per km² | 301 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 1 | 1 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cairns or Sharm el-Sheikh somewhere new.