VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
BolognaSan Petronio on Piazza Maggiore

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Bologna by Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Bologna?

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

  • families
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Bologna for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Bologna’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, Bologna 30: Bologna leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Bologna 82: Bologna leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Bologna 77: Amsterdam leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Bologna 58: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Bologna 52: Bologna leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Bologna 95: Bologna leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Bologna 50: Amsterdam leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Bologna 76: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Bologna 55: Amsterdam leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Bologna 48: Bologna leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Bologna 60: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Bologna 40: Amsterdam leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Amsterdam
62match

Wins on families and nightlife with your weighting.

Bologna
60match

Wins on prices and food and drink 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

Bologna in July

32 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
39 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamBologna

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.

Bologna 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.

Bologna's sunshine is measured 82 km from the centre, at Cervia.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Bologna: 1991-2020 normals, Bologna / Borgo Panigale (5.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamBologna
Official languageDutchItalian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m54 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsBologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)6 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamBologna
City population921,468387,971
People per km²4,2082,754
Museums within 10 km10168
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km53
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 Bologna 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.