VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Calgary or Colombo?

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 Calgary for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Colombo for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Colombo’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. Calgary 8, Colombo 55: Colombo leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Colombo 66: Colombo leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Colombo 45: Colombo leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Colombo 35: Calgary leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Colombo 32: Calgary leads by 56 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Colombo 50: Calgary leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Colombo 35: Calgary leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Colombo 35: Calgary leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Colombo 45: Colombo leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Colombo 30: Calgary leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Colombo 48: Colombo leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Colombo.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Calgary
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

Colombo
46match

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.

Calgary in July

25 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Colombo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
128 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryColombo
Official languageFrench, EnglishTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency number911Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation1,045 m1 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryColombo
City population1,306,784647,557
People per km²1,58317,361
Museums within 10 km1310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Calgary or Colombo 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.