VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cologne 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 Cologne for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping

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. Cologne 14, Scottsdale 8: Cologne leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Scottsdale 46: Cologne leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Scottsdale 38: Cologne leads by 29 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Scottsdale 52: Cologne leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Scottsdale 50: Cologne leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Scottsdale 60: Cologne leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Scottsdale 20: Cologne leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Scottsdale 32: Cologne leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Scottsdale 40: Cologne leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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.

Cologne in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
81 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CologneScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneScottsdale
Official languageGerman-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation59 m380 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneScottsdale
City population1,025,523241,361
People per km²2,532-
Museums within 10 km4010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31

Where else could you go?

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