VacationSelector
The Aare at Unterseen, Interlaken, Interlaken
InterlakenThe Aare at Unterseen, Interlaken
A chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain, Whistler
WhistlerA chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain

Photos: Interlaken by Roy Egloff, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Whistler by Ruth Hartnup, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Interlaken or Whistler?

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 Interlaken for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Whistler for

  • nightlife
  • wellness
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Whistler’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. Interlaken and Whistler are level on 30.
Food & drink. Interlaken 25, Whistler 40: Whistler leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Interlaken 8, Whistler 20: Whistler leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Interlaken 15, Whistler 42: Whistler leads by 27 points.
Nature & outdoors. Interlaken and Whistler are level on 97.
Day trips. Interlaken 78, Whistler 30: Interlaken leads by 48 points.
Good for families. Interlaken 72, Whistler 68: Interlaken leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Interlaken 80, Whistler 68: Interlaken leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Interlaken 22, Whistler 30: Whistler leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Interlaken 8, Whistler 12: Whistler leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Interlaken and Whistler are level on 15.
Wellness & relaxation. Interlaken 40, Whistler 60: Whistler leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Interlaken and Whistler.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Interlaken
41match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Whistler
43match

Wins on nightlife and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Interlaken in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Whistler in July

25 °Cdaytime high
10 °Cnight-time low
46 mmrain in the month
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-5°0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
InterlakenWhistler

Where the figures come from

Interlaken 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.

Whistler 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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Interlaken: 2005-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Meiringen / Unterbach (19.3 km from centre). Whistler: 1991-2020 normals, Whistler - Nesters (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureInterlakenWhistler
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-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation571 m670 m
Main airportZürich Airport (ZRH)100 km from centre226 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)104 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureInterlakenWhistler
City population6,12313,982
People per km²1,42458
Museums within 10 km31
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 Interlaken or Whistler 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). 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.