VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
Parliament Hill across the Ottawa River, Ottawa
OttawaParliament Hill across the Ottawa River

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Ottawa by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Ottawa?

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

  • day trips
  • shopping
  • food and drink

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

Choose Ottawa for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Ottawa’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, Ottawa 35: Ottawa leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Ottawa 45: Maastricht leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Ottawa 62: Ottawa leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Ottawa 35: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Ottawa 68: Ottawa leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Ottawa 55: Maastricht leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Ottawa 68: Ottawa leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Ottawa 62: Maastricht leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Ottawa 40: Maastricht leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Ottawa 40: Ottawa leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Ottawa 52: Ottawa leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Ottawa 55: Ottawa leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Ottawa.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Maastricht
52match

Wins on day trips and shopping with your weighting.

Ottawa
51match

Wins on beaches 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.

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Ottawa in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtOttawa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Ottawa: 1991-2020 normals, Ottawa CDA RCS (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtOttawa
Official languageDutchFrench, English
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation49 m70 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsOttawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW)12 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtOttawa
City population120,2271,017,449
People per km²2,000366
Museums within 10 km2120
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or Ottawa 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.