VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
Buenos AiresThe Teatro Colón

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Buenos Aires by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Buenos Aires?

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

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Buenos Aires for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Buenos Aires’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, Buenos Aires 7: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Buenos Aires 75: Buenos Aires leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Buenos Aires 71: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Buenos Aires 95: Buenos Aires leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Buenos Aires 38: Amsterdam leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Buenos Aires 60: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Buenos Aires 52: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Buenos Aires 62: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Buenos Aires 60: Amsterdam leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Buenos Aires 55: Buenos Aires leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Buenos Aires 75: Amsterdam leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Buenos Aires 28: Amsterdam leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Buenos Aires.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Buenos Aires
57match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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

Buenos Aires in July

15 °Cdaytime high
8 °Cnight-time low
50 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamBuenos Aires

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Buenos Aires: 1991-2020 normals, Aeroparque Bs. As. Aerodrome (4.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamBuenos Aires
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number112117 or 911
Elevation-2 m25 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsEzeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini (EZE)28 km from centre48 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamBuenos Aires
City population921,4683,121,707
People per km²4,20815,355
Museums within 10 km10176
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Buenos Aires 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.