Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Sorrento by Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Dubai or Sorrento?
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
- families
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Dubai’s own page.
Choose Sorrento for
- nature and the outdoors
- day trips
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Sorrento’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Sorrento.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on shopping and families with your weighting.
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
Sorrento in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Sorrento has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Sorrento's sunshine is measured 54 km from the centre, at Grazzanise.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Sorrento: 2005-2025 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Capri (17 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Dubai | Sorrento |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Arabic | Italian |
| Currency | UAE Dirham (AED) | Euro (EUR) |
| Sockets | CG220 V, 50 Hz | CFL230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+4 | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 0 m | 50 m |
| Main airport | Dubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinations | Naples International Airport (NAP)30 km from centre131 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Dubai | Sorrento |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 3,944,751 | 15,407 |
| People per km² | - | 1,541 |
| Museums within 10 km | 14 | 6 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 5 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 5 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai or Sorrento somewhere new.