VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The tusks over Moi Avenue, Mombasa
MombasaThe tusks over Moi Avenue

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Mombasa?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Mombasa for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’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, Mombasa 82: Mombasa leads by 57 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Mombasa 60: Mombasa leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Mombasa 55: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Mombasa 46: Amsterdam leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Mombasa 74: Mombasa leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Mombasa 45: Amsterdam leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Mombasa 45: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Mombasa 30: Amsterdam leads by 56 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Mombasa 35: Amsterdam leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Mombasa 70: Mombasa leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Mombasa 22: Amsterdam leads by 56 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Mombasa 40: Amsterdam leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Mombasa.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Mombasa
50match

Wins on beaches 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

Mombasa in July

28 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
63 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamMombasa

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.

Mombasa 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). Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamMombasa
Official languageDutchEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation-2 m50 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsMoi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamMombasa
City population921,4681,208,333
People per km²4,2084,100
Museums within 10 km1010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Mombasa 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.