VacationSelector
The Gateway of India under a blue sky, Mumbai
MumbaiThe Gateway of India under a blue sky
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Mumbai by Shubam Bhasin, Pexels License; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Mumbai or Xi'an?

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 Mumbai for

  • shopping
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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. Mumbai 18, Xi'an 4: Mumbai leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Mumbai 82, Xi'an 70: Mumbai leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Mumbai 70, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Mumbai 52, Xi'an 42: Mumbai leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mumbai 55, Xi'an 62: Xi'an leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Mumbai 48, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Mumbai 35, Xi'an 48: Xi'an leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Mumbai 38, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Mumbai 66, Xi'an 50: Mumbai leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Mumbai 72, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mumbai 55, Xi'an 40: Mumbai leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mumbai 24, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mumbai and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Mumbai
51match

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

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Mumbai in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
860 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

02004006008001000JFMAMJJASOND
MumbaiXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mumbai: 1991-2020 normals, Bombay / Santacruz (5.4 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMumbaiXi'an
Official languageHindi, EnglishPutonghua
CurrencyIndian Rupee (INR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+8
Emergency number108 or 112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation14 m405 m
Main airportChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)2 km from centre122 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureMumbaiXi'an
City population15,414,28812,952,907
People per km²25,5631,283
Museums within 10 km19
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km32
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mumbai or Xi'an 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.