VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
The Opera House from the water, Sydney
SydneyThe Opera House from the water

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Sydney by Bernard Spragg, CC0.

Rotterdam or Sydney?

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
  • prices
  • getting around

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

Choose Sydney for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Sydney’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, Sydney 95: Sydney leads by 68 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Sydney 77: Sydney leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Sydney 60: Sydney leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam 52, Sydney 60: Sydney leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Sydney 85: Sydney leads by 41 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Sydney 50: Rotterdam leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Sydney 75: Sydney leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Sydney 75: Rotterdam leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Sydney 68: Sydney leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Sydney 22: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Sydney 73: Sydney leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Sydney 55: Sydney leads by 13 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on day trips and prices with your weighting.

Sydney
Best match
66match

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

Sydney in July

18 °Cdaytime high
9 °Cnight-time low
70 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamSydney

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). Sydney: 1991-2020 normals, Sydney Airport (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamSydney
Official languageDutchEnglish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Australian Dollar (AUD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+10, UTC+11 in summer
Emergency number112000
Elevation10 m6 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsSydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD)9 km from centre99 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamSydney
City population664,3115,450,496
People per km²2,080449
Museums within 10 km4038
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

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