VacationSelector
Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain, Antwerp
AntwerpGrote Markt and the Brabo Fountain
The Dzhumaya Mosque, Plovdiv
PlovdivThe Dzhumaya Mosque

Photos: Antwerp by Norbert Jakab, Pexels License; Plovdiv by Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Antwerp or Plovdiv?

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
  • day trips

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

Choose Plovdiv for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Plovdiv’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, Plovdiv 7: Antwerp leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Antwerp 62, Plovdiv 50: Antwerp leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Antwerp 73, Plovdiv 66: Antwerp leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Antwerp 56, Plovdiv 42: Antwerp leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Antwerp 33, Plovdiv 68: Plovdiv leads by 35 points.
Day trips. Antwerp 86, Plovdiv 70: Antwerp leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Antwerp 62, Plovdiv 40: Antwerp leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Antwerp 75, Plovdiv 65: Antwerp leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Antwerp 70, Plovdiv 33: Antwerp leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Antwerp 38, Plovdiv 78: Plovdiv leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Antwerp 58, Plovdiv 42: Antwerp leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Antwerp 30, Plovdiv 44: Plovdiv leads by 14 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Antwerp
Best match
55match

Wins on shopping and families with your weighting.

Plovdiv
50match

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.

Antwerp in July

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

Plovdiv in July

31 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AntwerpPlovdiv

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.

Plovdiv 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.

Plovdiv's sunshine is measured 75 km from the centre, at Kurdjali.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Antwerp: 1991-2020 normals, Antwerpen / Deurne (5.2 km from centre). Plovdiv: 1997-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Plovdiv (1.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAntwerpPlovdiv
Official languageFrench, German, DutchBulgarian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation7 m172 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)36 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsPlovdiv International Airport (PDV)12 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureAntwerpPlovdiv
City population529,247333,994
People per km²2,5423,274
Museums within 10 km3818
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km90

Where else could you go?

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