VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
A bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay, Montego Bay
Montego BayA bright beach on turquoise water at Montego Bay

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Montego Bay by Dre Dawkcide, Pexels License.

Maastricht or Montego Bay?

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 Maastricht for

  • getting around
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Montego Bay for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Montego Bay’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. Maastricht 8, Montego Bay 84: Montego Bay leads by 76 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Montego Bay 50: Maastricht leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Montego Bay 28: Maastricht leads by 32 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht and Montego Bay are level on 42.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Montego Bay 65: Montego Bay leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Montego Bay 50: Maastricht leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Montego Bay 48: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Montego Bay 20: Maastricht leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Montego Bay 25: Maastricht leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Maastricht and Montego Bay are level on 38.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Montego Bay 32: Maastricht leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Montego Bay 45: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Montego Bay.

Your match

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

Maastricht
Best match
52match

Wins on getting around and shopping with your weighting.

Montego Bay
44match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Montego Bay in July

34 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtMontego Bay

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Montego Bay: 1991-2020 normals, Montego Bay / Sangster (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtMontego Bay
Official languageDutchEnglish, Jamaican Patois
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB116 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112Police 110/112/119/911, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation49 m19 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsSangster International Airport (MBJ)4 km from centre48 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtMontego Bay
City population120,227123,994
People per km²2,000-
Museums within 10 km210
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or Montego Bay 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.