VacationSelector
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Marrakech or Santa Monica?

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 Marrakech for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • families
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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. Marrakech 7, Santa Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 59 points.
Food & drink. Marrakech 64, Santa Monica 60: Marrakech leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Marrakech 76, Santa Monica 35: Marrakech leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Marrakech 33, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Marrakech 70, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Marrakech 28, Santa Monica 64: Santa Monica leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Marrakech 25, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Marrakech 38, Santa Monica 52: Santa Monica leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Marrakech 72, Santa Monica 56: Marrakech leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Marrakech 72, Santa Monica 14: Marrakech leads by 58 points.
Live music & performing arts. Marrakech 25, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Marrakech 75, Santa Monica 45: Marrakech leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Marrakech and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Marrakech
49match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santa Monica
51match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
MarrakechSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMarrakechSanta Monica
Official languageArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight-
CurrencyMoroccan Dirham (MAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15911
Elevation465 m32 m
Main airportMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMarrakechSanta Monica
City population1,002,69793,076
People per km²4,3604,270
Museums within 10 km1419
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Marrakech or Santa Monica 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.