VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Philadelphia or Samarkand?

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 Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • families

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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. Philadelphia 36, Samarkand 4: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Samarkand 54: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Samarkand 14: Philadelphia leads by 41 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Samarkand 40: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Samarkand 72: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Samarkand 30: Philadelphia leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Samarkand 58: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Samarkand 42: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Samarkand 24: Philadelphia leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Samarkand 32: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSamarkand
Official language-Uzbek
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+5
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m702 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSamarkand
City population1,603,797546,303
People per km²4,3395,058
Museums within 10 km5411
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Samarkand 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.