VacationSelector
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline
The Great Mosque with the mountains behind, Tirana
TiranaThe Great Mosque with the mountains behind

Photos: Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License; Tirana by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Rotterdam or Tirana?

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

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Tirana for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Tirana’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, Tirana 46: Tirana leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Rotterdam 52, Tirana 57: Tirana leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Rotterdam 58, Tirana 42: Rotterdam leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Rotterdam 52, Tirana 58: Tirana leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Rotterdam 44, Tirana 62: Tirana leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Rotterdam 85, Tirana 64: Rotterdam leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Rotterdam 66, Tirana 40: Rotterdam leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Rotterdam 78, Tirana 54: Rotterdam leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Rotterdam 55, Tirana 32: Rotterdam leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Rotterdam 38, Tirana 76: Tirana leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Rotterdam 58, Tirana 32: Rotterdam leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Rotterdam 42, Tirana 27: Rotterdam leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Rotterdam and Tirana.

Your match

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

Rotterdam
Best match
55match

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

Tirana
49match

Wins on prices and beaches 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

Tirana in July

31 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
43 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

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
RotterdamTirana

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). Tirana: 1961-1990 normals, Tirana (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureRotterdamTirana
Official languageDutchAlbanian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Lek (ALL)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m110 m
Main airportRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinationsTirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA)13 km from centre121 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureRotterdamTirana
City population664,311389,323
People per km²2,0809,314
Museums within 10 km4011
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
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 Tirana 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.