VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Santa Monica?

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

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • getting around

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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 Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 58 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Santa Monica 60: Santa Monica leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Santa Monica 35: Maastricht leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Santa Monica 38: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Santa Monica 64: Maastricht leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Santa Monica 52: Maastricht leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Santa Monica 56: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Santa Monica 14: Maastricht leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Santa Monica 38: Maastricht leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Santa Monica 45: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
0255075100

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

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 culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Santa Monica
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
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Santa Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtSanta Monica
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation49 m32 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtSanta Monica
City population120,22793,076
People per km²2,0004,270
Museums within 10 km2119
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or Santa Monica 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. 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.