VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Puerto Iguazu 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 Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • prices

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. Puerto Iguazu 5, Samarkand 4: Puerto Iguazu leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 75 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu and Samarkand are level on 14.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, Samarkand 40: Puerto Iguazu leads by 55 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, Samarkand 30: Puerto Iguazu leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, Samarkand 80: Samarkand leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, Samarkand 24: Samarkand leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, Samarkand 32: Puerto Iguazu leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

Samarkand
Best match
45match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
11 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Puerto IguazuSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuSamarkand
Official languageSpanishUzbek
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+5
Emergency number117 or 911112
Elevation162 m702 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuSamarkand
City population54,903546,303
People per km²-5,058
Museums within 10 km011
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 Puerto Iguazu 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.