VacationSelector
The Jet d'Eau and a lake boat, Geneva
GenevaThe Jet d'Eau and a lake boat
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Geneva by Diviosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Geneva 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 Geneva for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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. Geneva 45, Maastricht 8: Geneva leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Geneva 55, Maastricht 58: Maastricht leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Geneva 58, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Geneva 38, Maastricht 42: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Geneva 82, Maastricht 58: Geneva leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Geneva 80, Maastricht 77: Geneva leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Geneva 57, Maastricht 55: Geneva leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Geneva 86, Maastricht 74: Geneva leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Geneva 68, Maastricht 60: Geneva leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Geneva 5, Maastricht 38: Maastricht leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Geneva 60, Maastricht 40: Geneva leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Geneva 55, Maastricht 52: Geneva leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Geneva and Maastricht.

Your match

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

Geneva
Best match
57match

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

Maastricht
52match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Geneva in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
77 mmrain in the month
9 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

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
GenevaMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Geneva: 1991-2020 normals, Geneve-Cointrin (5.7 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGenevaMaastricht
Official languageFrench, German, Italian, RomanshDutch
CurrencySwiss Franc (CHF)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCJ230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation403 m49 m
Main airportGeneva International Airport (GVA)5 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureGenevaMaastricht
City population211,152120,227
People per km²13,2802,000
Museums within 10 km3421
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km25

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Geneva or Maastricht somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). 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.