VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Lyon 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 Lyon for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights

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. Lyon 12, Samarkand 4: Lyon leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Samarkand 54: Lyon leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Samarkand 14: Lyon leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Samarkand 40: Lyon leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Samarkand 72: Lyon leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Samarkand 30: Lyon leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Samarkand 58: Lyon leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Samarkand 42: Lyon leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Samarkand 24: Lyon leads by 44 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Samarkand 32: Lyon leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonSamarkand
Official languageFrenchUzbek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number112112
Elevation160 m702 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureLyonSamarkand
City population519,127546,303
People per km²10,8385,058
Museums within 10 km4311
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

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