VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
The Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace, Split
SplitThe Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Split by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Samarkand or Split?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Split for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Split’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, Split 75: Split leads by 71 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Split 57: Split leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Split 66: Samarkand leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Split 52: Split leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Split 77: Split leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Split 78: Split leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Split 54: Split leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Split 67: Split leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Split 32: Samarkand leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Split 45: Samarkand leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Split 37: Split leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Split 40: Split leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Split
Best match
57match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Split in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
25 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandSplit

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Split: 1991-2020 normals, Split / Marjan (0.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandSplit
Official languageUzbekCroatian
CurrencyUzbekistan Sum (UZS)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCFI220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation702 m0 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsSplit Saint Jerome Airport (SPU)12 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandSplit
City population546,303160,577
People per km²5,058-
Museums within 10 km1111
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km14
Swim season, months above 21 °C-4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Samarkand or Split 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.