VacationSelector
The Teatro Amazonas, Manaus
ManausThe Teatro Amazonas
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Manaus by Jardelsliumba, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Manaus 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 Manaus for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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. Manaus 38, Samarkand 4: Manaus leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Manaus 56, Samarkand 54: Manaus leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Manaus 46, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Manaus 42, Samarkand 14: Manaus leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manaus 86, Samarkand 40: Manaus leads by 46 points.
Day trips. Manaus 12, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 60 points.
Good for families. Manaus 35, Samarkand 30: Manaus leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Manaus 27, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Manaus 36, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Manaus 63, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manaus 54, Samarkand 24: Manaus leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manaus 20, Samarkand 32: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manaus and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Manaus
43match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on day trips 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.

Manaus in July

33 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
74 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
12 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ManausSamarkand

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

Before you go

MeasureManausSamarkand
Official languagePortugueseUzbek
CurrencyBrazilian Real (BRL)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCN60 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-4UTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 190, ambulance 192, fire 193112
Elevation92 m702 m
Main airportEduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO)9 km from centre21 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureManausSamarkand
City population2,303,732546,303
People per km²2025,058
Museums within 10 km1311
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

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