VacationSelector
Big Ben and Westminster Bridge, London
LondonBig Ben and Westminster Bridge
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

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

London 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 London for

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

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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. London 25, Scottsdale 8: London leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. London 84, Scottsdale 46: London leads by 38 points.
Culture & sights. London 94, Scottsdale 38: London leads by 56 points.
Nightlife. London 88, Scottsdale 52: London leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. London 57, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 11 points.
Day trips. London 90, Scottsdale 50: London leads by 40 points.
Good for families. London 82, Scottsdale 60: London leads by 22 points.
Getting around. London 85, Scottsdale 20: London leads by 65 points.
Shopping & style. London 95, Scottsdale 60: London leads by 35 points.
Affordability. London 15, Scottsdale 32: Scottsdale leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. London 98, Scottsdale 40: London leads by 58 points.
Wellness & relaxation. London 40, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: London and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

London
Best match
71match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

London in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
46 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
LondonScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. London: 1992-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, London Weather Centre (1.3 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLondonScottsdale
Official languageEnglish-
CurrencyPound Sterling (GBP)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsG230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112 or 999911
Elevation4 m380 m
Main airportLondon Heathrow Airport (LHR)23 km from centre224 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year8 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureLondonScottsdale
City population8,799,728241,361
People per km²5,598-
Museums within 10 km21610
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow London 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. 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.