VacationSelector
Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain, Antwerp
AntwerpGrote Markt and the Brabo Fountain
The white medina above the harbour walls, Essaouira
EssaouiraThe white medina above the harbour walls

Photos: Antwerp by Norbert Jakab, Pexels License; Essaouira by Manel Cusido, Pexels License.

Antwerp or Essaouira?

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

  • day trips
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Essaouira for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Essaouira’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, Essaouira 47: Essaouira leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Antwerp 62, Essaouira 44: Antwerp leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Antwerp 73, Essaouira 48: Antwerp leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Antwerp 56, Essaouira 14: Antwerp leads by 42 points.
Nature & outdoors. Antwerp 33, Essaouira 57: Essaouira leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Antwerp 86, Essaouira 17: Antwerp leads by 69 points.
Good for families. Antwerp 62, Essaouira 42: Antwerp leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Antwerp 75, Essaouira 58: Antwerp leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Antwerp 70, Essaouira 44: Antwerp leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Antwerp 38, Essaouira 74: Essaouira leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Antwerp 58, Essaouira 28: Antwerp leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Antwerp 30, Essaouira 66: Essaouira leads by 36 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Antwerp and Essaouira.

Your match

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

Antwerp
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and nightlife with your weighting.

Essaouira
45match

Wins on prices and wellness 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
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Essaouira in July

22 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AntwerpEssaouira

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.

Essaouira 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. Antwerp: 1991-2020 normals, Antwerpen / Deurne (5.2 km from centre). Essaouira: 1991-2020 normals, Essaouira (1.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAntwerpEssaouira
Official languageFrench, German, DutchArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation7 m11 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)36 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsEssaouira-Mogador Airport (ESU)15 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAntwerpEssaouira
City population529,24782,962
People per km²2,54216,592
Museums within 10 km382
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km91
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Antwerp or Essaouira 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.