VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Muscat?

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
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 64 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Muscat 44: Maastricht leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Muscat 55: Maastricht leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Muscat 14: Maastricht leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Muscat 62: Maastricht leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Muscat 52: Maastricht leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Muscat 20: Maastricht leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Muscat 42: Maastricht leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Muscat 45: Muscat leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht and Muscat are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Muscat.

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 nightlife with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

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

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

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

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtMuscat
Official languageDutchArabic
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+4
Emergency number112968
Elevation49 m69 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtMuscat
City population120,2271,421,409
People per km²2,000406
Museums within 10 km2110
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 Muscat 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. 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.