VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or San Sebastian?

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

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, San Sebastian 52: Amsterdam leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, San Sebastian 44: Amsterdam leads by 33 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, San Sebastian 80: Amsterdam leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, San Sebastian 66: Amsterdam leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, San Sebastian 80: Amsterdam leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, San Sebastian 40: Amsterdam leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, San Sebastian 32: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, San Sebastian 45: Amsterdam leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and San Sebastian.

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 nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on beaches 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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamSan Sebastian

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.

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamSan Sebastian
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m6 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamSan Sebastian
City population921,468189,866
People per km²4,2083,118
Museums within 10 km10114
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km53
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone2 months

Where else could you go?

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