VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Calgary or Philadelphia?

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
  • wellness
  • prices

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • culture and sights
  • beaches
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Philadelphia 52: Calgary leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Calgary and Philadelphia are level on 68.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Philadelphia 40: Calgary leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Philadelphia 26: Calgary leads by 16 points.
0255075100

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

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 wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on culture and sights and beaches 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryPhiladelphia
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-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,045 m12 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryPhiladelphia
City population1,306,7841,603,797
People per km²1,5834,339
Museums within 10 km1354
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

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