VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Samarkand or Vienna?

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

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

Choose Vienna for

  • live music and the arts
  • families
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Vienna leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Vienna 68: Vienna leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Vienna 50: Vienna leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Vienna 74: Vienna leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Vienna 77: Vienna leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Vienna 44: Samarkand leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 72 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Vienna 58: Vienna leads by 26 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices with your weighting.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts and families 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandVienna
Official languageUzbekGerman, Austrian Sign Language
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 m151 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandVienna
City population546,3032,028,289
People per km²5,0584,890
Museums within 10 km11152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13

Where else could you go?

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