VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Shanghai?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Amsterdam leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Shanghai 72: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Shanghai 25: Amsterdam leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Shanghai 85: Amsterdam leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Shanghai 66: Amsterdam leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
62match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on prices 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

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamShanghai

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamShanghai
Official languageDutchPutonghua
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation-2 m4 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamShanghai
City population921,46824,870,895
People per km²4,2083,922
Museums within 10 km10145
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Shanghai 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.