VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Fort Lauderdale?

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

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Fort Lauderdale for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Fort Lauderdale’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, Fort Lauderdale 88: Fort Lauderdale leads by 63 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Fort Lauderdale 47: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Fort Lauderdale 28: Amsterdam leads by 54 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Fort Lauderdale 52: Amsterdam leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Fort Lauderdale 62: Fort Lauderdale leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Fort Lauderdale 58: Amsterdam leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Fort Lauderdale 66: Amsterdam leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Fort Lauderdale 32: Amsterdam leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Fort Lauderdale 52: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Fort Lauderdale 32: Fort Lauderdale leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Fort Lauderdale 42: Amsterdam leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Fort Lauderdale 40: Amsterdam leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Fort Lauderdale.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around with your weighting.

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Fort Lauderdale in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
166 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamFort Lauderdale

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). Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamFort Lauderdale
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation-2 m11 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamFort Lauderdale
City population921,468182,760
People per km²4,2081,829
Museums within 10 km1016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Fort Lauderdale 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.