VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Hamburg 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 Hamburg for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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. Hamburg 28, Samarkand 4: Hamburg leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, Samarkand 54: Hamburg leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Samarkand 14: Hamburg leads by 62 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Samarkand 40: Hamburg leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Samarkand 30: Hamburg leads by 44 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Samarkand 58: Hamburg leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Samarkand 42: Hamburg leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Samarkand 24: Hamburg leads by 56 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Samarkand 32: Hamburg leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Hamburg
Best match
60match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices 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.

Hamburg in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hamburg: 1991-2020 normals, Hamburg Airport (9.3 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHamburgSamarkand
Official languageGermanUzbek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m702 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days-

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgSamarkand
City population1,869,473546,303
People per km²2,4765,058
Museums within 10 km7711
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 Hamburg 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.