VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
Château Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace, Quebec City
Quebec CityChâteau Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Quebec City by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cologne or Quebec City?

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 Cologne for

  • nightlife
  • getting around
  • day trips

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

Choose Quebec City for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Quebec City’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. Cologne 14, Quebec City 18: Quebec City leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Quebec City 57: Quebec City leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Quebec City 70: Quebec City leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Quebec City 42: Cologne leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Quebec City 79: Quebec City leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Quebec City 58: Cologne leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Quebec City 64: Cologne leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Quebec City 50: Cologne leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Quebec City 45: Cologne leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Quebec City 45: Cologne leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Quebec City 52: Cologne leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Quebec City 55: Quebec City leads by 5 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Quebec City.

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

Wins on nightlife and getting around with your weighting.

Quebec City
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Cologne in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
81 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Quebec City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CologneQuebec City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Quebec City: 1991-2020 normals, Beauport (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneQuebec City
Official languageGermanFrench, English
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation59 m98 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsQuebec Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)13 km from centre34 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneQuebec City
City population1,025,523574,482
People per km²2,5321,184
Museums within 10 km4016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cologne or Quebec City 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.