VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Gdansk 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 Gdansk for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • day trips
  • shopping
  • getting around

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. Gdansk 40, Rotterdam 27: Gdansk leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Rotterdam 52: Rotterdam leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Rotterdam 58: Gdansk leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk and Rotterdam are level on 52.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Rotterdam 44: Gdansk leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Rotterdam 55: Rotterdam leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Rotterdam 38: Gdansk leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Rotterdam 42: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Gdansk and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Gdansk
55match

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

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on day trips 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.

Gdansk in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °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
GdanskRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Gdansk 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.

Gdansk's sunshine is measured 55 km from the centre, at Elblag.

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. Gdansk: 1991-2020 normals, Gdansk-Rebiechowo (12.7 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskRotterdam
Official languagePolishDutch
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation11 m10 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskRotterdam
City population487,834664,311
People per km²7142,080
Museums within 10 km3440
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km25
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Gdansk 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.