VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Izmir 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 Izmir for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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. Izmir 62, Maastricht 8: Izmir leads by 54 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Maastricht 58: Izmir leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Maastricht 42: Izmir leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Maastricht 58: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Maastricht 77: Izmir leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Izmir and Maastricht are level on 55.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Maastricht 74: Maastricht leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Maastricht 38: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Maastricht 40: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Maastricht 52: Izmir leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Maastricht.

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Maastricht
52match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °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°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirMaastricht
Official languageTurkishDutch
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation2 m49 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirMaastricht
City population4,493,242120,227
People per km²4,7602,000
Museums within 10 km2921
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Izmir 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.