VacationSelector
The Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline, Macau
MacauThe Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Macau by tian Jin, Pexels License; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Macau 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 Macau for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

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

Choose Muscat for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • wellness

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. Macau 24, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Macau 77, Muscat 44: Macau leads by 33 points.
Culture & sights. Macau 62, Muscat 55: Macau leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Macau 40, Muscat 14: Macau leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Macau 5, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 65 points.
Day trips. Macau 52, Muscat 62: Muscat leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Macau 48, Muscat 52: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Macau 60, Muscat 20: Macau leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Macau 58, Muscat 42: Macau leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Macau 44, Muscat 45: Muscat leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Macau 36, Muscat 40: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Macau 40, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Macau and Muscat.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Macau
46match

Wins on getting around and food and drink with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Macau in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
281 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MacauMuscat

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. Macau: 1991-2020 normals, Taipa (3.9 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMacauMuscat
Official languagePortuguese, Cantonese, Standard ChineseArabic
CurrencyPataca (MOP)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsFGM220 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+4
Emergency number999968
Elevation22 m69 m
Main airportMacau International Airport (MFM)7 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureMacauMuscat
City population682,1001,421,409
People per km²5,916406
Museums within 10 km2810
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C8 months12 months

Where else could you go?

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