VacationSelector
São Paulo Cathedral, Sao Paulo
Sao PauloSão Paulo Cathedral
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Sao Paulo 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 Sao Paulo for

  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • 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. Sao Paulo 42, Scottsdale 8: Sao Paulo leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Sao Paulo 84, Scottsdale 46: Sao Paulo leads by 38 points.
Culture & sights. Sao Paulo 60, Scottsdale 38: Sao Paulo leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Sao Paulo 86, Scottsdale 52: Sao Paulo leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Sao Paulo 48, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Sao Paulo 47, Scottsdale 50: Scottsdale leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Sao Paulo 52, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Sao Paulo 44, Scottsdale 20: Sao Paulo leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Sao Paulo 70, Scottsdale 60: Sao Paulo leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Sao Paulo 62, Scottsdale 32: Sao Paulo leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Sao Paulo 76, Scottsdale 40: Sao Paulo leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Sao Paulo 25, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Sao Paulo and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Sao Paulo
Best match
58match

Wins on food and drink and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Sao Paulo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
53 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
11 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

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Sao PauloScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSao PauloScottsdale
Official languagePortuguese-
CurrencyBrazilian Real (BRL)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCN60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 190, ambulance 192, fire 193911
Elevation760 m380 m
Main airportSão Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureSao PauloScottsdale
City population11,451,999241,361
People per km²7,519-
Museums within 10 km9010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Sao Paulo 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.