VacationSelector
The Old Town Clock on Citadel Hill, Halifax
HalifaxThe Old Town Clock on Citadel Hill
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Halifax by Danieljmacdonald, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Halifax 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 Halifax for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • getting around
  • shopping
  • wellness

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. Halifax 32, Maastricht 8: Halifax leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Halifax 50, Maastricht 58: Maastricht leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Halifax 42, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Halifax 46, Maastricht 42: Halifax leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Halifax 62, Maastricht 58: Halifax leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Halifax 63, Maastricht 77: Maastricht leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Halifax and Maastricht are level on 55.
Getting around. Halifax 48, Maastricht 74: Maastricht leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Halifax 35, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Halifax and Maastricht are level on 38.
Live music & performing arts. Halifax 46, Maastricht 40: Halifax leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Halifax 28, Maastricht 52: Maastricht leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Halifax and Maastricht.

Your match

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

Halifax
45match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Maastricht
Best match
52match

Wins on getting around 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.

Halifax in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
101 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
15 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°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HalifaxMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Halifax: 1991-2020 normals, Shearwater Airport (6 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHalifaxMaastricht
Official languageFrench, EnglishDutch
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-4, UTC-3 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation28 m49 m
Main airportHalifax / Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)26 km from centre40 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureHalifaxMaastricht
City population440,072120,227
People per km²802,000
Museums within 10 km1521
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Halifax 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). 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.