VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
LimaThe fountain on Plaza Mayor

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Lima by James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Dubai or Lima?

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

  • families
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Lima for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Lima’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, Lima 42: Dubai leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Lima 88: Lima leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Lima 66: Lima leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Dubai and Lima are level on 62.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Lima 45: Lima leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Lima 34: Dubai leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Lima 42: Dubai leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Lima 35: Dubai leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Lima 52: Dubai leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Lima 70: Lima leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Lima 53: Lima leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Lima 25: Dubai leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Lima.

Your match

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

Dubai
Best match
54match

Wins on families and beaches with your weighting.

Lima
51match

Wins on prices and culture and sights 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
No recordsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Lima in July

19 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
1 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0510152025JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiLima

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiLima
Official languageArabicSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Sol (PEN)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-5
Emergency number112111 or 911
Elevation0 m154 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiLima
City population3,944,7519,943,800
People per km²-3,721
Museums within 10 km1447
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai or Lima 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.