VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles
Los AngelesThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Los Angeles by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Los Angeles?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Los Angeles for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Los Angeles’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, Los Angeles 60: Los Angeles leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Los Angeles 84: Los Angeles leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Los Angeles 66: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Los Angeles 67: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Los Angeles 80: Los Angeles leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Los Angeles 60: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Los Angeles 84: Los Angeles leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Los Angeles 25: Amsterdam leads by 61 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Los Angeles 80: Los Angeles leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Los Angeles 24: Los Angeles leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Los Angeles 83: Los Angeles leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Los Angeles 60: Los Angeles leads by 18 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Amsterdam
62match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Los Angeles
64match

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

Los Angeles in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamLos Angeles

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). Los Angeles: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (18.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamLos Angeles
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation-2 m106 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)19 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamLos Angeles
City population921,4683,898,747
People per km²4,2082,994
Museums within 10 km10139
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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