VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Maastricht or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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
  • day trips
  • shopping

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Maastricht leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Maastricht leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Maastricht leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: Maastricht leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Maastricht leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Maastricht leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Maastricht leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Maastricht leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Maastricht leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and San Jose, Costa Rica.

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 day trips with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices 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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation49 m1,161 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population120,227335,007
People per km²2,0007,511
Museums within 10 km219
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or San Jose, Costa Rica 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.