VacationSelector
Botero sculptures on Plaza Botero, Medellin
MedellinBotero sculptures on Plaza Botero
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Medellin by Steffen Schmitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Medellin 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 Medellin for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • beaches

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. Medellin 5, Rotterdam 27: Rotterdam leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Medellin 58, Rotterdam 52: Medellin leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Medellin 42, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Medellin 76, Rotterdam 52: Medellin leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Medellin 66, Rotterdam 44: Medellin leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Medellin 58, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Medellin 50, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Medellin 55, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Medellin 45, Rotterdam 55: Rotterdam leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Medellin 80, Rotterdam 38: Medellin leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Medellin 42, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Medellin 30, Rotterdam 42: Rotterdam leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Medellin
51match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

Rotterdam
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Medellin in July

29 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
133 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
12 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MedellinRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Medellin 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 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. Medellin: 1958-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Medellin / Olaya Herrera (5.2 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMedellinRotterdam
Official languageSpanishDutch
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number123112
Elevation1,405 m10 m
Main airportJose Maria Córdova International Airport (MDE)19 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMedellinRotterdam
City population2,529,403664,311
People per km²6,6442,080
Museums within 10 km1440
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
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 Medellin 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. 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. 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.