VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Izmir 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 Izmir for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • getting around
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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. Izmir 62, Rotterdam 27: Izmir leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Rotterdam 52: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Rotterdam 52: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Rotterdam 44: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Rotterdam 85: Izmir leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir and Rotterdam are level on 55.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Rotterdam 38: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Rotterdam 42: Izmir leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Rotterdam.

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.

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on getting around and families 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

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°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
IzmirRotterdam

Where the figures come from

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. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirRotterdam
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 m10 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirRotterdam
City population4,493,242664,311
People per km²4,7602,080
Museums within 10 km2940
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

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