VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The House of the Blackheads at dusk, Riga
RigaThe House of the Blackheads at dusk

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Riga by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Dubai or Riga?

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
  • shopping
  • families

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

Choose Riga for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Riga’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, Riga 40: Dubai leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Riga 52: Dubai leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Riga 66: Riga leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Riga 52: Dubai leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Riga 55: Riga leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Riga 60: Riga leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Riga 50: Dubai leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Riga 68: Riga leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Riga 45: Dubai leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Riga 62: Riga leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Riga 65: Riga leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Riga 50: Riga leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Riga.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Dubai
54match

Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.

Riga
55match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Dubai in July

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

Riga in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
18 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiRiga

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Riga: 1991-2020 normals, Riga (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiRiga
Official languageArabicLatvian
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation0 m6 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsRiga International Airport (RIX)9 km from centre93 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiRiga
City population3,944,751588,911
Museums within 10 km1412
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 Riga 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.