VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Izmir or Muscat?

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 Izmir for

  • nightlife
  • getting around
  • food and drink

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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. Izmir 62, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Muscat 44: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir and Muscat are level on 55.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Muscat 14: Izmir leads by 46 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Muscat 62: Izmir leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Muscat 52: Izmir leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Muscat 20: Izmir leads by 43 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Muscat 42: Izmir leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Muscat 45: Izmir leads by 21 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Muscat 40: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Muscat 55: Izmir leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife and getting around with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on beaches 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.

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirMuscat
Official languageTurkishArabic
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+4
Emergency number112968
Elevation2 m69 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirMuscat
City population4,493,2421,421,409
People per km²4,760406
Museums within 10 km2910
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Izmir or Muscat 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.