VacationSelector
The Jet d'Eau and a lake boat, Geneva
GenevaThe Jet d'Eau and a lake boat
Place d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal
MontrealPlace d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica

Photos: Geneva by Diviosen, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Montreal by Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Geneva or Montreal?

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 Geneva for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Montreal for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Montreal’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. Geneva 45, Montreal 25: Geneva leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Geneva 55, Montreal 78: Montreal leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Geneva 58, Montreal 60: Montreal leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Geneva 38, Montreal 75: Montreal leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Geneva 82, Montreal 66: Geneva leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Geneva 80, Montreal 55: Geneva leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Geneva 57, Montreal 68: Montreal leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Geneva 86, Montreal 72: Geneva leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Geneva 68, Montreal 60: Geneva leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Geneva 5, Montreal 45: Montreal leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Geneva 60, Montreal 76: Montreal leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Geneva 55, Montreal 57: Montreal leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Geneva
57match

Wins on day trips and beaches with your weighting.

Montreal
Best match
61match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Geneva in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
77 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Montreal in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
98 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
GenevaMontreal

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Geneva: 1991-2020 normals, Geneve-Cointrin (5.7 km from centre). Montreal: 1991-2020 normals, Montreal McTavish (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGenevaMontreal
Official languageFrench, German, Italian, RomanshFrench, English
CurrencySwiss Franc (CHF)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCJ230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation403 m31 m
Main airportGeneva International Airport (GVA)5 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsMontreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)16 km from centre166 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureGenevaMontreal
City population211,1521,895,211
People per km²13,2803,806
Museums within 10 km3437
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Geneva or Montreal somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). 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.