VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The golden Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
JerusalemThe golden Dome of the Rock

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Jerusalem by Yasir Gürbüz, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Jerusalem?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Jerusalem for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Jerusalem’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, Jerusalem 40: Jerusalem leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Jerusalem 66: Jerusalem leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Jerusalem 92: Jerusalem leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Jerusalem 38: Amsterdam leads by 39 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Jerusalem 60: Jerusalem leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Jerusalem 80: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Jerusalem 52: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Jerusalem 55: Amsterdam leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Jerusalem 48: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Jerusalem 20: Amsterdam leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Jerusalem 40: Amsterdam leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam and Jerusalem are level on 42.
0255075100

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

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Jerusalem
53match

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

Jerusalem in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamJerusalem

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.

Jerusalem 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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Jerusalem: 1991-2020 normals, Jerusalem (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamJerusalem
Official languageDutchHebrew
CurrencyEuro (EUR)New Israeli Sheqel (ILS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCHM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 100, fire 102
Elevation-2 m754 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)42 km from centre111 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamJerusalem
City population921,4681,050,151
People per km²4,2088,374
Museums within 10 km10169
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km57
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone7 months

Where else could you go?

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