VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Auckland or Rotterdam?

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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Rotterdam’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. Auckland 68, Rotterdam 27: Auckland leads by 41 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Rotterdam 52: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Rotterdam 52: Rotterdam leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Rotterdam 44: Auckland leads by 39 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Rotterdam 66: Auckland leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Rotterdam 55: Rotterdam leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Rotterdam 38: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Rotterdam 42: Auckland leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Rotterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Rotterdam 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.

Rotterdam's sunshine is measured 52 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandRotterdam
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriDutch
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m10 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandRotterdam
City population1,470,100664,311
People per km²2,6302,080
Museums within 10 km1540
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Rotterdam 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.