VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Fishing boats in the harbour, La Spezia
La SpeziaFishing boats in the harbour

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; La Spezia by Irina Balashova, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or La Spezia?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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

Choose La Spezia for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on La Spezia’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, La Spezia 60: La Spezia leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam and La Spezia are level on 58.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, La Spezia 40: Amsterdam leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, La Spezia 28: Amsterdam leads by 49 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, La Spezia 79: La Spezia leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam and La Spezia are level on 87.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, La Spezia 48: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, La Spezia 70: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, La Spezia 35: Amsterdam leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, La Spezia 50: La Spezia leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, La Spezia 28: Amsterdam leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, La Spezia 32: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and La Spezia.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife with your weighting.

La Spezia
51match

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

La Spezia in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
20 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamLa Spezia

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.

La Spezia's temperatures are measured 65 km from the centre, at Pisa / S. Giusto.

La Spezia 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). La Spezia: 1991-2020 normals, Pisa / S. Giusto (64.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamLa Spezia
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 m3 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsPisa International Airport (PSA)65 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamLa Spezia
City population921,46892,119
People per km²4,2081,792
Museums within 10 km10112
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone4 months

Where else could you go?

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