VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Shanghai?

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

  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht 42, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Shanghai 25: Maastricht leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 3 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Maastricht
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and food and drink 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

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtShanghai
Official languageDutchPutonghua
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation49 m4 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtShanghai
City population120,22724,870,895
People per km²2,0003,922
Museums within 10 km2145
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or Shanghai 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.