VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Dubai 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 Dubai for

  • beaches
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • getting around

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. Dubai 80, Maastricht 8: Dubai leads by 72 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Maastricht 58: Dubai leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Maastricht 42: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Maastricht 58: Maastricht leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Maastricht 77: Maastricht leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Maastricht 55: Dubai leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Maastricht 74: Maastricht leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Maastricht 60: Dubai leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Maastricht 38: Maastricht leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai and Maastricht are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Maastricht 52: Maastricht leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Maastricht.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Dubai
54match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Maastricht
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubaiMaastricht
Official languageArabicDutch
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation0 m49 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiMaastricht
City population3,944,751120,227
People per km²-2,000
Museums within 10 km1421
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.