VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Rotterdam or Scottsdale?

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 Rotterdam for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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. Rotterdam 27, Scottsdale 8: Rotterdam leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Scottsdale 46: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Scottsdale 38: Rotterdam leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam and Scottsdale are level on 52.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Scottsdale 50: Rotterdam leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Scottsdale 60: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Scottsdale 20: Rotterdam leads by 58 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Scottsdale 32: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Scottsdale 40: Rotterdam leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Rotterdam and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Rotterdam
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamScottsdale

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. Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamScottsdale
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number112911
Elevation10 m380 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamScottsdale
City population664,311241,361
People per km²2,080-
Museums within 10 km4010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Rotterdam or Scottsdale 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). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.