VacationSelector
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Scottsdale or Zurich?

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 Scottsdale for

  • prices
  • wellness

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

Choose Zurich for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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. Scottsdale 8, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Scottsdale 46, Zurich 53: Zurich leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Scottsdale 38, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Scottsdale 52, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Scottsdale 68, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Scottsdale 50, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Scottsdale 60, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Scottsdale 20, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 75 points.
Shopping & style. Scottsdale 60, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Scottsdale 32, Zurich 3: Scottsdale leads by 29 points.
Live music & performing arts. Scottsdale 40, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Scottsdale 72, Zurich 58: Scottsdale leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Scottsdale and Zurich.

Your match

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

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Scottsdale in July

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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ScottsdaleZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureScottsdaleZurich
Official language-French, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation380 m408 m
Main airportPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureScottsdaleZurich
City population241,361440,935
People per km²-5,016
Museums within 10 km1063
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 Scottsdale or Zurich 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.