VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
Place d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal
MontrealPlace d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Montreal by Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Calgary or Montreal?

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

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

Choose Montreal for

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Montreal’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, Montreal 25: Montreal leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Montreal 78: Montreal leads by 33 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Montreal 60: Montreal leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Montreal 75: Montreal leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Montreal 66: Calgary leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Calgary and Montreal are level on 55.
Good for families. Calgary and Montreal are level on 68.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Montreal 72: Montreal leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Montreal 60: Montreal leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Montreal 45: Montreal leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Montreal 76: Montreal leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Montreal 57: Montreal leads by 15 points.
0255075100

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

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 with your weighting.

Montreal
Best match
61match

Wins on nightlife and food and drink 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

Montreal in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
98 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryMontreal

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Montreal: 1991-2020 normals, Montreal McTavish (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryMontreal
Official languageFrench, EnglishFrench, English
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,045 m31 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsMontreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)16 km from centre166 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryMontreal
City population1,306,7841,895,211
People per km²1,5833,806
Museums within 10 km1337
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 Montreal 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.