VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The cathedral from Piazza del Duomo, Milan
MilanThe cathedral from Piazza del Duomo

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Milan by Jiuguang Wang, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Milan?

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

  • families
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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

Choose Milan for

  • shopping
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Milan’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, Milan 20: Amsterdam leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Milan 78: Milan leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Milan 78: Amsterdam leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Milan 66: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Milan 65: Milan leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Milan 91: Milan leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Milan 55: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Milan 79: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Milan 92: Milan leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Milan 33: Milan leads by 11 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Milan 82: Milan leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam and Milan are level on 42.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Milan.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
62match

Wins on families and nightlife with your weighting.

Milan
Best match
65match

Wins on shopping and food and drink 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

Milan in July

30 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
70 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamMilan

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.

Milan 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.

Milan's sunshine is measured 41 km from the centre, at Novara / Cameri.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Milan: 1991-2020 normals, Milano / Linate (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamMilan
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 m138 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsMilan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)40 km from centre208 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamMilan
City population921,4681,354,196
People per km²4,2087,453
Museums within 10 km10188
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km54
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 Milan 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.