VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms, Tangier
TangierThe Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Tangier by Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Dubai or Tangier?

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
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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

Choose Tangier for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Tangier’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, Tangier 50: Dubai leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Tangier 58: Dubai leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Tangier 57: Tangier leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Tangier 30: Dubai leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Tangier 55: Tangier leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Tangier 72: Tangier leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Tangier 35: Dubai leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Tangier 40: Dubai leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Tangier 42: Dubai leads by 40 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Tangier 76: Tangier leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Tangier 28: Dubai leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Tangier 50: Tangier leads by 4 points.
0255075100

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

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 shopping with your weighting.

Tangier
49match

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
No recordsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Tangier in July

29 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiTangier

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Tangier: 1991-2020 normals, Tanger Aerodrome (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiTangier
Official languageArabicArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation0 m56 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsTangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG)11 km from centre50 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiTangier
City population3,944,7511,275,428
People per km²-6,393
Museums within 10 km146
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai or Tangier 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.