VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Madrid 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 Madrid for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices

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. Madrid 5, Samarkand 4: Madrid leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Samarkand 54: Madrid leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Samarkand 84: Madrid leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Samarkand 14: Madrid leads by 71 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Samarkand 40: Madrid leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Samarkand 72: Madrid leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Samarkand 30: Madrid leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Samarkand 58: Madrid leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Samarkand 42: Madrid leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Samarkand 24: Madrid leads by 53 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Samarkand 32: Madrid leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 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

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
MadridSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridSamarkand
Official languageSpanishUzbek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number112112
Elevation663 m702 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureMadridSamarkand
City population3,506,730546,303
People per km²5,8015,058
Museums within 10 km8811
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 Madrid 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.