VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles
Los AngelesThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Los Angeles by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Dubai or Los Angeles?

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

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • prices

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

Choose Los Angeles for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Los Angeles’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, Los Angeles 60: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Los Angeles 84: Los Angeles leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Los Angeles 66: Los Angeles leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Los Angeles 67: Los Angeles leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Los Angeles 80: Los Angeles leads by 55 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Los Angeles 60: Los Angeles leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Los Angeles 84: Los Angeles leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Los Angeles 25: Dubai leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Los Angeles 80: Dubai leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Los Angeles 24: Dubai leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Los Angeles 83: Los Angeles leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Los Angeles 60: Los Angeles leads by 14 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Los Angeles.

Your match

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

Dubai
54match

Wins on beaches and getting around with your weighting.

Los Angeles
Best match
64match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts 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

Los Angeles in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiLos Angeles

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Los Angeles: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (18.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiLos Angeles
Official languageArabic-
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation0 m106 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)19 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiLos Angeles
City population3,944,7513,898,747
People per km²-2,994
Museums within 10 km1439
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

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