VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Amsterdam or Valletta?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Valletta for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Valletta leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Valletta 55: Amsterdam leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Valletta 76: Amsterdam leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Valletta 46: Amsterdam leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Valletta 56: Valletta leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Valletta 76: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Valletta 58: Amsterdam leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Valletta 62: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Valletta 38: Amsterdam leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Valletta 50: Valletta leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Valletta 44: Amsterdam leads by 34 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Valletta 32: Amsterdam leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife with your weighting.

Valletta
55match

Wins on beaches and prices 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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamValletta

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). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamValletta
Official languageDutchEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation-2 m56 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamValletta
City population921,4685,197
People per km²4,2086,496
Museums within 10 km10116
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km53
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

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