VacationSelector
The Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza, Calgary
CalgaryThe Calgary Tower above Olympic Plaza
York Minster from the city walls, York
YorkYork Minster from the city walls

Photos: Calgary by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; York by PAUL FARMER, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Calgary or York?

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
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose York for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on York’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, York 14: York leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Calgary 45, York 42: Calgary leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Calgary 35, York 70: York leads by 35 points.
Nightlife. Calgary 40, York 36: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Calgary 88, York 62: Calgary leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Calgary 55, York 80: York leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Calgary 68, York 60: Calgary leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Calgary 42, York 72: York leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Calgary 42, York 46: York leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Calgary 42, York 38: Calgary leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Calgary 46, York 38: Calgary leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Calgary 42, York 34: Calgary leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

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 families with your weighting.

York
Best match
49match

Wins on culture and sights 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
No recordsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

York in July

21 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
62 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CalgaryYork

Where the figures come from

York has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

York's sunshine is measured 48 km from the centre, at Leeming.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Calgary: 1991-2020 normals, Calgary Int'l CS (8.2 km from centre). York: 1991-2020 normals, Linton-On-Ouse (14.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCalgaryYork
Official languageFrench, EnglishEnglish
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Pound Sterling (GBP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number911112 or 999
Elevation1,045 m25 m
Main airportCalgary International Airport (YYC)9 km from centre103 non-stop destinationsLeeds Bradford Airport (LBA)39 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureCalgaryYork
City population1,306,784208,400
People per km²1,583766
Museums within 10 km1324
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 York 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.