VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Muscat?

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
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Muscat 44: Amsterdam leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Muscat 55: Amsterdam leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Muscat 14: Amsterdam leads by 63 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Muscat 62: Amsterdam leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Muscat 52: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Muscat 20: Amsterdam leads by 66 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Muscat 42: Amsterdam leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Muscat 45: Muscat leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Muscat 40: Amsterdam leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 13 points.
0255075100

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

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 nightlife with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

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

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamMuscat

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.

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamMuscat
Official languageDutchArabic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+4
Emergency number112968
Elevation-2 m69 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamMuscat
City population921,4681,421,409
People per km²4,208406
Museums within 10 km10110
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
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 Muscat 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.