VacationSelector
The Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux
BordeauxThe Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Bordeaux by Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bordeaux or Maastricht?

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 Bordeaux for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • wellness
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Maastricht’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. Bordeaux 50, Maastricht 8: Bordeaux leads by 42 points.
Food & drink. Bordeaux 78, Maastricht 58: Bordeaux leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Bordeaux 68, Maastricht 60: Bordeaux leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Bordeaux 50, Maastricht 42: Bordeaux leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bordeaux and Maastricht are level on 58.
Day trips. Bordeaux 78, Maastricht 77: Bordeaux leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Bordeaux 57, Maastricht 55: Bordeaux leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Bordeaux 76, Maastricht 74: Bordeaux leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Bordeaux 56, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Bordeaux 42, Maastricht 38: Bordeaux leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bordeaux 55, Maastricht 40: Bordeaux leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bordeaux 40, Maastricht 52: Maastricht leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Bordeaux
Best match
59match

Wins on beaches and food and drink with your weighting.

Maastricht
52match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Bordeaux in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
BordeauxMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bordeaux: 1991-2020 normals, Bordeaux / Merignac (9.5 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBordeauxMaastricht
Official languageFrenchDutch
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation1 m49 m
Main airportBordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD)11 km from centre95 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureBordeauxMaastricht
City population267,991120,227
People per km²5,4252,000
Museums within 10 km1821
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km45

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bordeaux or Maastricht 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.