VacationSelector
Lower Broadway and its honky-tonks, Nashville
NashvilleLower Broadway and its honky-tonks
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Nashville by Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Nashville 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 Nashville for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping

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. Nashville 14, Scottsdale 8: Nashville leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Nashville 62, Scottsdale 46: Nashville leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Nashville 50, Scottsdale 38: Nashville leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Nashville 70, Scottsdale 52: Nashville leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nashville 46, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Nashville 52, Scottsdale 50: Nashville leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Nashville 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Nashville 30, Scottsdale 20: Nashville leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Nashville 42, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Nashville 30, Scottsdale 32: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nashville 82, Scottsdale 40: Nashville leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nashville 20, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 52 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nashville and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Nashville
46match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife 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.

Nashville in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
104 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
NashvilleScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nashville: 1991-2020 normals, Nashville Airport (9.6 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNashvilleScottsdale
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number911911
Elevation182 m380 m
Main airportNashville International Airport (BNA)10 km from centre122 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureNashvilleScottsdale
City population689,447241,361
People per km²506-
Museums within 10 km1210
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

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