VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Florence and the Arno, Florence
FlorenceFlorence and the Arno

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Florence by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Florence?

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
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Florence for

  • food and drink
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Florence’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, Florence 14: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Florence 74: Florence leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Florence 94: Florence leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Florence 42: Amsterdam leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Florence 58: Florence leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Florence 98: Florence leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Florence 45: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Florence 78: Amsterdam leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Florence 72: Florence leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Florence 35: Florence leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Florence 58: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam and Florence are level on 42.
0255075100

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

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 families with your weighting.

Florence
59match

Wins on food and drink 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

Florence in July

32 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
37 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
AmsterdamFlorence

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.

Florence 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.

Florence's sunshine is measured 71 km from the centre, at Pisa / S. Giusto.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Florence: 1995-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Firenze / Peretola (5.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamFlorence
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 m50 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsFlorence Airport, Peretola (FLR)6 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamFlorence
City population921,468360,930
People per km²4,2083,528
Museums within 10 km101141
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km54
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 Florence 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.