Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Queenstown by Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Calgary or Queenstown?
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
- live music and the arts
- culture and sights
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Calgary’s own page.
Choose Queenstown for
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Queenstown’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Queenstown.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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
Queenstown in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Queenstown has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Queenstown: 1991-2020 normals, TerraClimate 4 km grid at the town, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Calgary | Queenstown |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | French, English | English, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori |
| Currency | Canadian Dollar (CAD) | New Zealand Dollar (NZD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | I230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Left |
| Time zone | UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer | UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer |
| Emergency number | 911 | 111 |
| Elevation | 1,045 m | 324 m |
| Main airport | Calgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinations | Queenstown Airport (ZQN)7 km from centre7 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 12 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Calgary | Queenstown |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,306,784 | 29,000 |
| People per km² | 1,583 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 13 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Calgary or Queenstown somewhere new.