VacationSelector
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Guilin or Samarkand?

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 Guilin for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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. Guilin 8, Samarkand 4: Guilin leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Guilin 45, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Guilin 40, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Guilin 30, Samarkand 14: Guilin leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Guilin 88, Samarkand 40: Guilin leads by 48 points.
Day trips. Guilin 56, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Guilin 45, Samarkand 30: Guilin leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Guilin 45, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Guilin 28, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Guilin 78, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Guilin 30, Samarkand 24: Guilin leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Guilin 40, Samarkand 32: Guilin leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Guilin and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Guilin
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

Samarkand
45match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

Guilin in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
248 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
GuilinSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGuilinSamarkand
Official languagePutonghuaUzbek
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation153 m702 m
Main airportGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureGuilinSamarkand
City population4,931,137546,303
People per km²-5,058
Museums within 10 km111
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Guilin or Samarkand 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.