VacationSelector
The Opera House on the fjord, Oslo
OsloThe Opera House on the fjord
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Oslo by Beata May, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Oslo 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 Oslo for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • 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. Oslo 36, Scottsdale 8: Oslo leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Oslo 55, Scottsdale 46: Oslo leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Oslo 66, Scottsdale 38: Oslo leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Oslo 48, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Oslo 82, Scottsdale 68: Oslo leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Oslo 52, Scottsdale 50: Oslo leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Oslo 63, Scottsdale 60: Oslo leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Oslo 85, Scottsdale 20: Oslo leads by 65 points.
Shopping & style. Oslo 50, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Oslo 14, Scottsdale 32: Scottsdale leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Oslo 62, Scottsdale 40: Oslo leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Oslo 60, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Oslo
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Oslo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
86 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
OsloScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Oslo: 1991-2020 normals, Oslo-Blindern (4.3 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureOsloScottsdale
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Sámi-
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110911
Elevation23 m380 m
Main airportOslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL)37 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureOsloScottsdale
City population717,710241,361
Museums within 10 km6010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Oslo 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.