VacationSelector
Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain, Antwerp
AntwerpGrote Markt and the Brabo Fountain
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Antwerp by Norbert Jakab, Pexels License; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Antwerp or Merida?

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

  • getting around
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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

Choose Merida for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Merida’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, Merida 50: Merida leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Antwerp 62, Merida 72: Merida leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Antwerp 73, Merida 64: Antwerp leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Antwerp 56, Merida 42: Antwerp leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Antwerp 33, Merida 48: Merida leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Antwerp 86, Merida 80: Antwerp leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Antwerp 62, Merida 50: Antwerp leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Antwerp 75, Merida 45: Antwerp leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Antwerp 70, Merida 50: Antwerp leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Antwerp 38, Merida 75: Merida leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Antwerp 58, Merida 52: Antwerp leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Antwerp 30, Merida 40: Merida leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Antwerp
55match

Wins on getting around and shopping with your weighting.

Merida
56match

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.

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

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AntwerpMerida

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Antwerp: 1991-2020 normals, Antwerpen / Deurne (5.2 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAntwerpMerida
Official languageFrench, German, DutchSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation7 m12 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)36 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureAntwerpMerida
City population529,247892,363
People per km²2,5421,010
Museums within 10 km385
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km90
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Antwerp or Merida 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.