VacationSelector
The cathedral from Piazza del Duomo, Milan
MilanThe cathedral from Piazza del Duomo
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Milan by Jiuguang Wang, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Milan 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 Milan for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Milan 20, Scottsdale 8: Milan leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Milan 78, Scottsdale 46: Milan leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Milan 78, Scottsdale 38: Milan leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Milan 66, Scottsdale 52: Milan leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Milan 65, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Milan 91, Scottsdale 50: Milan leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Milan 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Milan 79, Scottsdale 20: Milan leads by 59 points.
Shopping & style. Milan 92, Scottsdale 60: Milan leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Milan 33, Scottsdale 32: Milan leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Milan 82, Scottsdale 40: Milan leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Milan 42, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Milan and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Milan
Best match
65match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness 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.

Milan in July

30 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
70 mmrain in the month
9 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

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
MilanScottsdale

Where the figures come from

Milan has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Milan's sunshine is measured 41 km from the centre, at Novara / Cameri.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Milan: 1991-2020 normals, Milano / Linate (8 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMilanScottsdale
Official languageItalian-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation138 m380 m
Main airportMilan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)40 km from centre208 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMilanScottsdale
City population1,354,196241,361
People per km²7,453-
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 Milan 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.