VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Palais des Papes and the cathedral, Avignon
AvignonThe Palais des Papes and the cathedral

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Avignon by BlueBreezeWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Avignon?

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 Amsterdam for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • families

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

Choose Avignon for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Avignon’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. Amsterdam 25, Avignon 22: Amsterdam leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Avignon 57: Amsterdam leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Avignon 69: Amsterdam leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Avignon 30: Amsterdam leads by 47 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Avignon 70: Avignon leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Avignon 92: Avignon leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Avignon 45: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Avignon 62: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Avignon 38: Amsterdam leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Avignon 44: Avignon leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Avignon 68: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Avignon 35: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

Avignon
53match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Avignon in July

32 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
24 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamAvignon

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Avignon has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Avignon's sunshine is measured 65 km from the centre, at Marseille / Marignane.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Avignon: 2005-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Avignon / Morières-lès-Avignon (8.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamAvignon
Official languageDutchFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m10 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsMarseille Provence Airport (MRS)65 km from centre126 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamAvignon
City population921,46892,188
People per km²4,2081,420
Museums within 10 km10111
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km56
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

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