VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Istanbul or Scottsdale?

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 Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • food and drink

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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. Istanbul 45, Scottsdale 8: Istanbul leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Scottsdale 46: Istanbul leads by 41 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Scottsdale 38: Istanbul leads by 52 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Scottsdale 52: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Scottsdale 50: Istanbul leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Scottsdale 20: Istanbul leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Scottsdale 60: Istanbul leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Scottsdale 32: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Scottsdale 40: Istanbul leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Scottsdale 72: Istanbul leads by 3 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulScottsdale
Official languageTurkish-
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation100 m380 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulScottsdale
City population15,655,924241,361
People per km²2,930-
Museums within 10 km7310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul or Scottsdale 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.