VacationSelector
Cinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom, Orlando
OrlandoCinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Orlando by Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Orlando 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 Orlando for

  • families
  • beaches
  • day trips

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

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. Orlando 42, Scottsdale 8: Orlando leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Orlando 48, Scottsdale 46: Orlando leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Orlando 22, Scottsdale 38: Scottsdale leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Orlando 40, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Orlando 46, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Orlando 58, Scottsdale 50: Orlando leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Orlando 98, Scottsdale 60: Orlando leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Orlando 8, Scottsdale 20: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Orlando 58, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Orlando 36, Scottsdale 32: Orlando leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Orlando and Scottsdale are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Orlando 32, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 40 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Orlando and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Orlando
44match

Wins on families and beaches 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.

Orlando in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
189 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
OrlandoScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Orlando: 1991-2020 normals, Orlando Airport (14.2 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOrlandoScottsdale
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number911911
Elevation34 m380 m
Main airportOrlando International Airport (MCO)14 km from centre169 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureOrlandoScottsdale
City population334,854241,361
People per km²1,086-
Museums within 10 km1110
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 Orlando 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.