VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Palm Springs

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Palm Springs?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Palm Springs for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Palm Springs’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, Palm Springs 7: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Palm Springs 40: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Palm Springs 42: Amsterdam leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Palm Springs 36: Amsterdam leads by 41 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Palm Springs 78: Palm Springs leads by 31 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Palm Springs 38: Amsterdam leads by 49 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Palm Springs 40: Amsterdam leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Palm Springs 22: Amsterdam leads by 64 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Palm Springs 44: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Palm Springs 32: Palm Springs leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Palm Springs 40: Amsterdam leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Palm Springs 80: Palm Springs leads by 38 points.
0255075100

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

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 day trips with your weighting.

Palm Springs
42match

Wins on wellness 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

Palm Springs in July

42 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamPalm Springs

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.

Palm Springs 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). Palm Springs: 2006-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Palm Springs (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamPalm Springs
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 m146 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsPalm Springs International Airport (PSP)2 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamPalm Springs
City population921,46844,575
People per km²4,208181
Museums within 10 km1013
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
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 Palm Springs 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.