VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
Botero sculptures on Plaza Botero, Medellin
MedellinBotero sculptures on Plaza Botero

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Medellin by Steffen Schmitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Calgary or Medellin?

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
  • wellness

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

Choose Medellin for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Medellin’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, Medellin 5: Calgary leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Medellin 58: Medellin leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Medellin 42: Medellin leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Medellin 76: Medellin leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Medellin 66: Calgary leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Medellin 58: Medellin leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Medellin 50: Calgary leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Medellin 55: Medellin leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Medellin 45: Medellin leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Medellin 80: Medellin leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Medellin 42: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Medellin 30: Calgary leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Calgary
46match

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

Medellin
Best match
51match

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
16 hdaylight a day

Medellin in July

29 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
133 mmrain in the month
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryMedellin

Where the figures come from

Medellin 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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Medellin: 1958-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Medellin / Olaya Herrera (5.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryMedellin
Official languageFrench, EnglishSpanish
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911123
Elevation1,045 m1,405 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsJose Maria Córdova International Airport (MDE)19 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryMedellin
City population1,306,7842,529,403
People per km²1,5836,644
Museums within 10 km1314
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Calgary or Medellin 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.