VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • day trips

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. Philadelphia 36, Rotterdam 27: Philadelphia leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Rotterdam 52: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Rotterdam 58: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Rotterdam 52: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Rotterdam 44: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Rotterdam 66: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Rotterdam 55: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Rotterdam 38: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Rotterdam 58: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Rotterdam 42: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on wellness 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.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 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

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaRotterdam

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. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaRotterdam
Official language-Dutch
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m10 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaRotterdam
City population1,603,797664,311
People per km²4,3392,080
Museums within 10 km5440
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15
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 Philadelphia 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). 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. 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.

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.