VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Santa Marta?

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
  • getting around
  • shopping

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Santa Marta 44: Maastricht leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Santa Marta 34: Maastricht leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Santa Marta 38: Maastricht leads by 39 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Santa Marta 40: Maastricht leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Santa Marta 38: Maastricht leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Santa Marta 27: Maastricht leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Santa Marta 17: Maastricht leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Santa Marta 30: Maastricht leads by 22 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Maastricht
Best match
52match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtSanta Marta
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation49 m8 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtSanta Marta
City population120,227505,915
People per km²2,0001,723
Museums within 10 km213
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 Santa Marta 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.