VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Honolulu?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Honolulu for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Honolulu’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, Honolulu 91: Honolulu leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Honolulu 70: Honolulu leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Honolulu 55: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Honolulu 45: Amsterdam leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Honolulu 88: Honolulu leads by 41 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Honolulu 38: Amsterdam leads by 49 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Honolulu 80: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Honolulu 52: Amsterdam leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Honolulu 60: Amsterdam leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Honolulu 15: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Honolulu 40: Amsterdam leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Honolulu 50: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Honolulu
57match

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

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamHonolulu

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). Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamHonolulu
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-10
Emergency number112911
Elevation-2 m12 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamHonolulu
City population921,468350,964
People per km²4,2081,981
Museums within 10 km10112
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 Honolulu 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.