VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
Puente de San Martín over the Tagus, Toledo
ToledoPuente de San Martín over the Tagus

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

Samarkand or Toledo?

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
  • food and drink
  • shopping

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

Choose Toledo for

  • families
  • nightlife
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Toledo’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, Toledo 5: Toledo leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Toledo 40: Samarkand leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Toledo 79: Samarkand leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Toledo 22: Toledo leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand and Toledo are level on 40.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Toledo 78: Toledo leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Toledo 45: Toledo leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Toledo 64: Toledo leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Toledo 32: Samarkand leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Toledo 58: Samarkand leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Toledo 22: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Toledo 30: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Samarkand and Toledo.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Toledo
43match

Wins on families 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

Toledo in July

35 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
6 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandToledo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Toledo: 1991-2020 normals, Toledo (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandToledo
Official languageUzbekSpanish
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 m523 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)80 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandToledo
City population546,30387,216
People per km²5,058376
Museums within 10 km1113
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Samarkand or Toledo 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. 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.