VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
The church of San Francisco under a blue sky, Quito
QuitoThe church of San Francisco under a blue sky

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Quito by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Calgary or Quito?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

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

Choose Quito for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Quito’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, Quito 5: Calgary leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, Quito 54: Quito leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, Quito 77: Quito leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Calgary and Quito are level on 40.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, Quito 86: Calgary leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Calgary and Quito are level on 55.
Good for families. Calgary 68, Quito 32: Calgary leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, Quito 45: Quito leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, Quito 40: Calgary leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, Quito 78: Quito leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, Quito 38: Calgary leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, Quito 44: Quito leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Calgary and Quito.

Your match

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

Calgary
46match

Wins on families and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Quito
Best match
50match

Wins on culture and sights and prices 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

Quito in July

18 °Cdaytime high
5 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryQuito

Where the figures come from

Quito's station stands 208 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). Quito: 1961-1990 normals, Izobamba-Santa Catalina (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryQuito
Official languageFrench, EnglishSpanish, Shuar, Northern Quichua
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,045 m2,850 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsMariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)20 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryQuito
City population1,306,7841,763,275
People per km²1,5834,735
Museums within 10 km1316
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

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