VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Vancouver?

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 Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’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. Chiang Mai 6, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Vancouver 72: Chiang Mai leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Vancouver 42: Chiang Mai leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Vancouver 42: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Vancouver 45: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Vancouver 55: Chiang Mai leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Vancouver 27: Chiang Mai leads by 63 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Vancouver 50: Chiang Mai leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Vancouver
56match

Wins on beaches 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.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiVancouver
Official languageThaiFrench, English
CurrencyBaht (THB)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation310 m2 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiVancouver
City population1,198,000662,248
People per km²2,9585,759
Museums within 10 km626
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Vancouver 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.