VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
Turquoise water off Giftun Island, Hurghada
HurghadaTurquoise water off Giftun Island

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Hurghada by Andrey Korchagin, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Dubai or Hurghada?

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
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Hurghada for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Hurghada’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, Hurghada 84: Hurghada leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Hurghada 34: Dubai leads by 42 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Hurghada 14: Dubai leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Hurghada 40: Dubai leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Hurghada 72: Hurghada leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Hurghada 30: Dubai leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Hurghada 62: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Hurghada 22: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Hurghada 24: Dubai leads by 58 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Hurghada 80: Hurghada leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Hurghada 10: Dubai leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Hurghada 44: Dubai leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Hurghada.

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.

Hurghada
43match

Wins on prices 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.

Dubai in July

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

Hurghada in July

37 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
28 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0510152025JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiHurghada

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Hurghada: 1991-2020 normals, Hurguada (15.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiHurghada
Official languageArabicArabic
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Egyptian Pound (EGP)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180
Elevation0 m11 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsHurghada International Airport (HRG)9 km from centre111 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-15 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiHurghada
City population3,944,751214,247
Museums within 10 km141
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 Hurghada 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). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.