VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Samarkand 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 Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nightlife
  • families

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. Samarkand 4, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Scottsdale 46: Samarkand leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Scottsdale 38: Samarkand leads by 46 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Scottsdale 50: Samarkand leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Scottsdale 20: Samarkand leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Scottsdale 32: Samarkand leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Scottsdale 40: Scottsdale leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 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: Samarkand and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Samarkand in July

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

Scottsdale in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandScottsdale
Official languageUzbek-
CurrencyUzbekistan Sum (UZS)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCFI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+5UTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation702 m380 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandScottsdale
City population546,303241,361
People per km²5,058-
Museums within 10 km1110
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 Samarkand 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.