VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Dubai or Fort Lauderdale?

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 Dubai for

  • shopping
  • food and drink
  • families

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

Choose Fort Lauderdale for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Fort Lauderdale’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. Dubai 80, Fort Lauderdale 88: Fort Lauderdale leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Fort Lauderdale 47: Dubai leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Fort Lauderdale 28: Dubai leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Fort Lauderdale 52: Dubai leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Fort Lauderdale 62: Fort Lauderdale leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Fort Lauderdale 58: Fort Lauderdale leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Fort Lauderdale 66: Dubai leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Fort Lauderdale 32: Dubai leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Fort Lauderdale 52: Dubai leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Dubai and Fort Lauderdale are level on 32.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Fort Lauderdale 42: Fort Lauderdale leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Fort Lauderdale 40: Dubai leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Fort Lauderdale.

Your match

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

Dubai
Best match
54match

Wins on shopping and food and drink with your weighting.

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Fort Lauderdale in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
166 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiFort Lauderdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiFort Lauderdale
Official languageArabic-
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation0 m11 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiFort Lauderdale
City population3,944,751182,760
People per km²-1,829
Museums within 10 km146
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai or Fort Lauderdale 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.