VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Rotterdam or Thessaloniki?

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
  • families
  • day trips

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

Choose Thessaloniki for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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, Thessaloniki 55: Thessaloniki leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Thessaloniki 77: Thessaloniki leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Thessaloniki 73: Thessaloniki leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam 52, Thessaloniki 76: Thessaloniki leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Thessaloniki 74: Rotterdam leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Thessaloniki 50: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Thessaloniki 60: Rotterdam leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Thessaloniki 50: Rotterdam leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Thessaloniki 52: Rotterdam leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Thessaloniki 33: Rotterdam leads by 9 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Rotterdam
55match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Thessaloniki
Best match
61match

Wins on beaches and prices 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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamThessaloniki

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). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamThessaloniki
Official languageDutchGreek
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m6 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamThessaloniki
City population664,311309,617
People per km²2,08016,042
Museums within 10 km4032
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

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