VacationSelector
The tusks over Moi Avenue, Mombasa
MombasaThe tusks over Moi Avenue
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Mombasa 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 Mombasa for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

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. Mombasa 82, Rotterdam 27: Mombasa leads by 55 points.
Food & drink. Mombasa 60, Rotterdam 52: Mombasa leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Mombasa 55, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Mombasa 46, Rotterdam 52: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mombasa 74, Rotterdam 44: Mombasa leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Mombasa 45, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 40 points.
Good for families. Mombasa 45, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 21 points.
Getting around. Mombasa 30, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Mombasa 35, Rotterdam 55: Rotterdam leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Mombasa 70, Rotterdam 38: Mombasa leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mombasa 22, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mombasa 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: Mombasa and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Mombasa
50match

Wins on beaches and prices 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.

Mombasa in July

28 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
63 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
26 °Csea
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°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
MombasaRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Mombasa 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. Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMombasaRotterdam
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliDutch
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999112
Elevation50 m10 m
Main airportMoi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMombasaRotterdam
City population1,208,333664,311
People per km²4,1002,080
Museums within 10 km040
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km25
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 Mombasa 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). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.