VacationSelector
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Madrid 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 Madrid for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

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. Madrid 5, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Madrid 80, Scottsdale 46: Madrid leads by 34 points.
Culture & sights. Madrid 86, Scottsdale 38: Madrid leads by 48 points.
Nightlife. Madrid 85, Scottsdale 52: Madrid leads by 33 points.
Nature & outdoors. Madrid 60, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Madrid 89, Scottsdale 50: Madrid leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Madrid 68, Scottsdale 60: Madrid leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Madrid 84, Scottsdale 20: Madrid leads by 64 points.
Shopping & style. Madrid 75, Scottsdale 60: Madrid leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Madrid 50, Scottsdale 32: Madrid leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Madrid 77, Scottsdale 40: Madrid leads by 37 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Madrid 36, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 36 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Madrid and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness 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.

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 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
MadridScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMadridScottsdale
Official languageSpanish-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation663 m380 m
Main airportAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMadridScottsdale
City population3,506,730241,361
People per km²5,801-
Museums within 10 km8810
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 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.