VacationSelector
The Semperoper, Dresden
DresdenThe Semperoper
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Dresden by Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Dresden or Xi'an?

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 Dresden for

  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • food and drink
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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. Dresden 10, Xi'an 4: Dresden leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Dresden 45, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Dresden 79, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Dresden 47, Xi'an 42: Dresden leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dresden 74, Xi'an 62: Dresden leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Dresden 76, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Dresden 60, Xi'an 48: Dresden leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Dresden 74, Xi'an 66: Dresden leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Dresden 42, Xi'an 50: Xi'an leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Dresden 55, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dresden 76, Xi'an 40: Dresden leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dresden 42, Xi'an 40: Dresden leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dresden and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Dresden
57match

Wins on live music and the arts and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Xi'an
55match

Wins on food and drink and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dresden in July

26 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
DresdenXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dresden: 1991-2020 normals, Dresden-Strehlen (3.8 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDresdenXi'an
Official languageGermanPutonghua
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation126 m405 m
Main airportDresden Airport (DRS)10 km from centre13 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureDresdenXi'an
City population562,76412,952,907
People per km²1,7131,283
Museums within 10 km709
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dresden or Xi'an 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.