VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
Waterfront houses on Harbor Island in Newport Harbor, Newport Beach
Newport BeachWaterfront houses on Harbor Island in Newport Harbor

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Newport Beach by Don Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Calgary or Newport Beach?

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

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

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

Choose Newport Beach for

  • beaches
  • shopping
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Newport Beach’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, Newport Beach 70: Newport Beach leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Newport Beach 50: Newport Beach leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Newport Beach 20: Calgary leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Newport Beach 33: Calgary leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Newport Beach 66: Calgary leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Newport Beach 70: Newport Beach leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Newport Beach 80: Newport Beach leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Newport Beach 20: Calgary leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Newport Beach 62: Newport Beach leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Newport Beach 15: Calgary leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary and Newport Beach are level on 46.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Newport Beach 44: Newport Beach leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Calgary
46match

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

Newport Beach
48match

Wins on beaches and shopping 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 seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Newport Beach in July

26 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryNewport Beach

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Newport Beach: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1981-2010) normals, Santa Ana / Paularino (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryNewport Beach
Official languageFrench, English-
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,045 m3 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre102 non-stop destinationsJohn Wayne Orange County International Airport (SNA)7 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryNewport Beach
City population1,306,78485,239
People per km²1,583622
Museums within 10 km134
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Calgary or Newport Beach 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.