VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Johannesburg by K, Pexels License.

Calgary or Johannesburg?

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
  • getting around

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

Choose Johannesburg for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’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, Johannesburg 5: Calgary leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Johannesburg 58: Johannesburg leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Johannesburg 56: Johannesburg leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Johannesburg 62: Johannesburg leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Johannesburg 55: Calgary leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Johannesburg 52: Calgary leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Johannesburg 42: Calgary leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Johannesburg 18: Calgary leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Johannesburg 58: Johannesburg leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Johannesburg 72: Johannesburg leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Johannesburg 28: Calgary leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Johannesburg.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Calgary
46match

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

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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
16 hdaylight a day

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryJohannesburg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryJohannesburg
Official languageFrench, EnglishEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC+2
Emergency number911112
Elevation1,045 m1,753 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryJohannesburg
City population1,306,7844,803,262
People per km²1,5832,922
Museums within 10 km1314
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

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