VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The cathedral above the old town, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de CompostelaThe cathedral above the old town

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santiago de Compostela by Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Santiago de Compostela?

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

  • shopping
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Santiago de Compostela for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago de Compostela’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, Santiago de Compostela 32: Santiago de Compostela leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Santiago de Compostela 68: Santiago de Compostela leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Santiago de Compostela 45: Santiago de Compostela leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Santiago de Compostela 62: Santiago de Compostela leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Santiago de Compostela 72: Maastricht leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Santiago de Compostela 42: Maastricht leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Santiago de Compostela 70: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Santiago de Compostela 35: Maastricht leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Santiago de Compostela 64: Santiago de Compostela leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht and Santiago de Compostela are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Santiago de Compostela 42: Maastricht leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Santiago de Compostela.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Maastricht
52match

Wins on shopping and families with your weighting.

Santiago de Compostela
54match

Wins on prices and beaches 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

Santiago de Compostela in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
41 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtSantiago de Compostela

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Santiago de Compostela: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago / Labacolla (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtSantiago de Compostela
Official languageDutchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation49 m260 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsSantiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ)10 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtSantiago de Compostela
City population120,227100,965
People per km²2,000459
Museums within 10 km216
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
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 Santiago de Compostela 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.