VacationSelector
Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain, Antwerp
AntwerpGrote Markt and the Brabo Fountain
San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
BolognaSan Petronio on Piazza Maggiore

Photos: Antwerp by Norbert Jakab, Pexels License; Bologna by Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Antwerp or Bologna?

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 Antwerp for

  • shopping
  • families

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

Choose Bologna for

  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Bologna’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. Antwerp 15, Bologna 30: Bologna leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Antwerp 62, Bologna 82: Bologna leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Antwerp 73, Bologna 77: Bologna leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Antwerp 56, Bologna 58: Bologna leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Antwerp 33, Bologna 52: Bologna leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Antwerp 86, Bologna 95: Bologna leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Antwerp 62, Bologna 50: Antwerp leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Antwerp 75, Bologna 76: Bologna leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Antwerp 70, Bologna 55: Antwerp leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Antwerp 38, Bologna 48: Bologna leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Antwerp 58, Bologna 60: Bologna leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Antwerp 30, Bologna 40: Bologna leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Antwerp and Bologna.

Your match

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

Antwerp
55match

Wins on shopping and families with your weighting.

Bologna
Best match
60match

Wins on food and drink 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.

Antwerp in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Bologna in July

32 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
39 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AntwerpBologna

Where the figures come from

Antwerp 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.

Antwerp's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Uccle.

Bologna 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.

Bologna's sunshine is measured 82 km from the centre, at Cervia.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Antwerp: 1991-2020 normals, Antwerpen / Deurne (5.2 km from centre). Bologna: 1991-2020 normals, Bologna / Borgo Panigale (5.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAntwerpBologna
Official languageFrench, German, DutchItalian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation7 m54 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)36 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsBologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)6 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAntwerpBologna
City population529,247387,971
People per km²2,5422,754
Museums within 10 km3868
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km93

Where else could you go?

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