VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
A painted funicular on the hillside, Valparaiso
ValparaisoA painted funicular on the hillside

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Valparaiso by Maclemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Valparaiso?

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 Valparaiso for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Valparaiso’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, Valparaiso 36: Valparaiso leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Valparaiso 50: Amsterdam leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Valparaiso 62: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Valparaiso 56: Amsterdam leads by 21 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Valparaiso 63: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Valparaiso 33: Amsterdam leads by 39 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Valparaiso 44: Amsterdam leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Valparaiso 30: Amsterdam leads by 38 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Valparaiso 38: Amsterdam leads by 40 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Valparaiso 18: Amsterdam leads by 24 points.
0255075100

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

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 live music and the arts with your weighting.

Valparaiso
46match

Wins on prices 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

Valparaiso in July

15 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
71 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamValparaiso

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.

Valparaiso 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). Valparaiso: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Viña Del Mar / Montemar (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamValparaiso
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation-2 m21 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)87 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamValparaiso
City population921,468296,655
People per km²4,2086,180
Museums within 10 km10117
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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