VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The twin towers of the cathedral over Plaza de Armas, Guadalajara
GuadalajaraThe twin towers of the cathedral over Plaza de Armas

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Guadalajara by Ponchomx, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Guadalajara?

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
  • day trips
  • beaches

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

Choose Guadalajara for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Guadalajara’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, Guadalajara 5: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Guadalajara 75: Guadalajara leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Guadalajara 62: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Guadalajara 68: Amsterdam leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Guadalajara 55: Guadalajara leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Guadalajara 66: Amsterdam leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Guadalajara 55: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Guadalajara 40: Amsterdam leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Guadalajara 60: Amsterdam leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Guadalajara 78: Guadalajara leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Guadalajara 60: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Guadalajara 35: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Guadalajara.

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 day trips with your weighting.

Guadalajara
55match

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

Guadalajara in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
205 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamGuadalajara

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.

Guadalajara has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Guadalajara: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamGuadalajara
Official languageDutchSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation-2 m1,536 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsGuadalajara International Airport (GDL)17 km from centre70 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamGuadalajara
City population921,4681,385,621
People per km²4,2089,556
Museums within 10 km10117
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
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 Guadalajara 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.