VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Thessaloniki?

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
  • families

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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, Thessaloniki 55: Thessaloniki leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Thessaloniki 77: Thessaloniki leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Thessaloniki 73: Amsterdam leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Thessaloniki 76: Amsterdam leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Thessaloniki 74: Amsterdam leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Thessaloniki 50: Amsterdam leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Thessaloniki 60: Amsterdam leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Thessaloniki 50: Amsterdam leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Thessaloniki 52: Amsterdam leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Thessaloniki 33: Amsterdam leads by 9 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Amsterdam
62match

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

Thessaloniki
61match

Wins on prices and beaches 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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamThessaloniki

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). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamThessaloniki
Official languageDutchGreek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m6 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamThessaloniki
City population921,468309,617
People per km²4,20816,042
Museums within 10 km10132
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
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 Thessaloniki 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.