VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Calgary or Portland?

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

  • families
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Portland for

  • food and drink
  • getting around
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’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, Portland 20: Portland leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Portland 68: Portland leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Portland 38: Portland leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, Portland 52: Portland leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Portland 84: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, Portland 58: Portland leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Portland 55: Calgary leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Portland 62: Portland leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Portland 52: Portland leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Portland 38: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Portland 55: Portland leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary and Portland are level on 42.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Portland.

Your match

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

Calgary
46match

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

Portland
Best match
52match

Wins on food and drink and getting around 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

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryPortland

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryPortland
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 m152 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryPortland
City population1,306,784652,503
People per km²1,5831,736
Museums within 10 km1317
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 Portland 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.