VacationSelector
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Copenhagen 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 Copenhagen for

  • food and drink
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • prices
  • day trips

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. Copenhagen 40, Rotterdam 27: Copenhagen leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Copenhagen 76, Rotterdam 52: Copenhagen leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Copenhagen 72, Rotterdam 58: Copenhagen leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Copenhagen 60, Rotterdam 52: Copenhagen leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Copenhagen 45, Rotterdam 44: Copenhagen leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Copenhagen 72, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Copenhagen 85, Rotterdam 66: Copenhagen leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Copenhagen 85, Rotterdam 78: Copenhagen leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Copenhagen 70, Rotterdam 55: Copenhagen leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Copenhagen 18, Rotterdam 38: Rotterdam leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Copenhagen 68, Rotterdam 58: Copenhagen leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Copenhagen 55, Rotterdam 42: Copenhagen leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Copenhagen and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Copenhagen
Best match
62match

Wins on food and drink and families with your weighting.

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on prices 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.

Copenhagen in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
17 °Csea
17 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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CopenhagenRotterdam

Where the figures come from

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. Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCopenhagenRotterdam
Official languageDanishDutch
CurrencyDanish Krone (DKK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCEFK230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m10 m
Main airportCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureCopenhagenRotterdam
City population667,099664,311
People per km²7,3392,080
Museums within 10 km7240
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km55
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Copenhagen 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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.