VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church, Ljubljana
LjubljanaThe Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Ljubljana by detait, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Ljubljana?

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
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Ljubljana for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Ljubljana’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, Ljubljana 22: Amsterdam leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Ljubljana 55: Amsterdam leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Ljubljana 55: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Ljubljana 40: Amsterdam leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Ljubljana 80: Ljubljana leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Ljubljana 78: Amsterdam leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Ljubljana 54: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Ljubljana 74: Amsterdam leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Ljubljana 33: Amsterdam leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Ljubljana 54: Ljubljana leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Ljubljana 50: Amsterdam leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam and Ljubljana are level on 42.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Ljubljana.

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 shopping with your weighting.

Ljubljana
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices 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

Ljubljana in July

28 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
121 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamLjubljana

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). Ljubljana: 1991-2020 normals, Ljubljana / Bezigrad (1.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamLjubljana
Official languageDutchSlovene
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m309 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsLjubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU)20 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamLjubljana
City population921,468284,293
People per km²4,2081,736
Museums within 10 km10114
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km53
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 Ljubljana 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.