Climate
Amsterdam logs 4 outdoor-dinner months a year to London's 3 — Amsterdam wins by 1. Amsterdam also leads on sunny days by 27.
Amsterdam
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
London
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Amsterdam is $332/mo cheaperAmsterdam runs about $3,405/mo for a balanced lifestyle against London's $3,737/mo — Amsterdam comes in $332 cheaper each month, roughly 10% less.
Amsterdam
$3,405monthly · balanced
London
$3,737monthly · balanced
Mobility
On mobility, Amsterdam scores 5.0 vs London's 4.0 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on cycling infrastructure.
Culture
London's culture score of 4.9 sits well above Amsterdam's 4.4, with the biggest gap on arts & culture.
Nature & Outdoors
Amsterdam's nature & outdoors score of 4.2 sits well above London's 3.8, with the biggest gap on sea access. London still holds an edge on hiking.
Safety
Amsterdam's safety score is ~1.7× London's — in the upper band, while London lands in the middle of the scale, with the biggest gap on road safety.
Career
London's career score of 5.0 sits well above Amsterdam's 4.2, with the biggest gap on career opportunities.
Social & Community
London's social & community score of 4.0 sits well above Amsterdam's 3.8, with the biggest gap on everyday english. Amsterdam still holds an edge on street atmosphere.
Food & Dining
On food & dining, London scores 5.0 vs Amsterdam's 3.8 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on brunch availability.
Family
On family, London scores 4.6 vs Amsterdam's 3.7 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on sport facilities. Amsterdam still holds an edge on playgrounds.
Healthcare
On healthcare, Amsterdam scores 3.7 vs London's 3.4 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on public healthcare quality. London still holds an edge on private healthcare quality.
Air Quality
Amsterdam averages 8.8 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus London's 8.6 µg/m³ (good) — London breathes ~2% cleaner air (0.2 µg/m³ lower).
Amsterdam
London
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Amsterdam (1.2M) and London (10.4M) are 8.5x in population — London is the larger metro, Amsterdam the smaller; on land area London spans roughly 5.4x more ground.
London is roughly 6.7x the scale of Amsterdam
Combined population & area comparison
London
AmsterdamCity Scale Rankings
London10.4M8.5xAmsterdam1.2M1xLondon1,649 km²5.4xAmsterdam308 km²1xAmsterdam
London
Who Thrives Here
Amsterdam favours the ocean lover, while London suits the crowd avoider. Both cities work well for the car-free urbanist.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Amsterdam vs London
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