VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Manila or Rotterdam?

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 Manila for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Rotterdam’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. Manila 12, Rotterdam 27: Rotterdam leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Rotterdam 52: Manila leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Rotterdam 52: Manila leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Rotterdam 44: Rotterdam leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 43 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 52 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Rotterdam 55: Manila leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Rotterdam 38: Manila leads by 39 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Rotterdam 42: Rotterdam leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Rotterdam
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Rotterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Rotterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Rotterdam's sunshine is measured 52 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaRotterdam
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishDutch
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation9 m10 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaRotterdam
City population1,902,590664,311
People per km²76,1042,080
Museums within 10 km2740
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila or Rotterdam 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.