VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Chiang Mai?

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

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’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, Chiang Mai 6: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Chiang Mai 78: Chiang Mai leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Chiang Mai 65: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Chiang Mai 45: Amsterdam leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Chiang Mai 73: Chiang Mai leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Chiang Mai 48: Amsterdam leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Chiang Mai 55: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Chiang Mai 38: Amsterdam leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Chiang Mai 62: Amsterdam leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Chiang Mai 90: Chiang Mai leads by 68 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Chiang Mai 30: Amsterdam leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Chiang Mai 82: Chiang Mai leads by 40 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Chiang Mai.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on prices and wellness 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

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamChiang Mai

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). Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamChiang Mai
Official languageDutchThai
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Baht (THB)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation-2 m310 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamChiang Mai
City population921,4681,198,000
People per km²4,2082,958
Museums within 10 km1016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
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 Chiang Mai 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.