VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
The Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace, Split
SplitThe Riva in front of Diocletian's Palace

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Split by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Rotterdam or Split?

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

  • shopping
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Split for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Split’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, Split 75: Split leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Split 57: Split leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Split 66: Split leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam and Split are level on 52.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Split 77: Split leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Split 78: Rotterdam leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Split 54: Rotterdam leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Split 67: Rotterdam leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Split 32: Rotterdam leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Split 45: Split leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Split 37: Rotterdam leads by 21 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Split 40: Rotterdam leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on shopping and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Split
57match

Wins on beaches 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

Split in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
25 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamSplit

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). Split: 1991-2020 normals, Split / Marjan (0.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamSplit
Official languageDutchCroatian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m0 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsSplit Saint Jerome Airport (SPU)12 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamSplit
City population664,311160,577
People per km²2,080-
Museums within 10 km4011
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km54
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Rotterdam or Split 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. 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.