VacationSelector
The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
CairoThe pyramids of Giza
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Cairo by Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cairo or Scottsdale?

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 Cairo for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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. Cairo 10, Scottsdale 8: Cairo leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Cairo 60, Scottsdale 46: Cairo leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Cairo 96, Scottsdale 38: Cairo leads by 58 points.
Nightlife. Cairo 48, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cairo 30, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Cairo 66, Scottsdale 50: Cairo leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Cairo 32, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Cairo 35, Scottsdale 20: Cairo leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Cairo 58, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Cairo 95, Scottsdale 32: Cairo leads by 63 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cairo 50, Scottsdale 40: Cairo leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cairo 15, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 57 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairo and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Cairo
Best match
50match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cairo in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0510152025JFMAMJJASOND
CairoScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cairo: 1991-2020 normals, Helwan (21.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCairoScottsdale
Official languageArabic-
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180911
Elevation23 m380 m
Main airportCairo International Airport (CAI)17 km from centre127 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCairoScottsdale
City population9,801,536241,361
People per km²18,564-
Museums within 10 km4810
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cairo or Scottsdale 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). 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. 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.