VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Dubai or Vienna?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Vienna for

  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Dubai leads by 53 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Vienna 68: Dubai leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 49 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Vienna 50: Dubai leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Vienna 74: Vienna leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Vienna 77: Dubai leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Vienna 62: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Vienna 44: Vienna leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 56 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Vienna 58: Vienna leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Dubai
54match

Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiVienna
Official languageArabicGerman, Austrian Sign Language
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation0 m151 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiVienna
City population3,944,7512,028,289
People per km²-4,890
Museums within 10 km14152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

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