VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Rotterdam or Seattle?

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

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • prices

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

Choose Seattle for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’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, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Seattle 50: Rotterdam leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam 52, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 43 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Seattle 55: Rotterdam leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Seattle 64: Rotterdam leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Seattle 60: Rotterdam leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Seattle 52: Rotterdam leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Seattle 22: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Seattle 40: Rotterdam leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Seattle
54match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and food and drink 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

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamSeattle

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). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamSeattle
Official languageDutch-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation10 m40 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamSeattle
City population664,311737,015
People per km²2,0801,996
Museums within 10 km4027
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Rotterdam or Seattle 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.