VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Istanbul 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 Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • nightlife
  • prices

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • getting around

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. Istanbul 45, Vancouver 42: Istanbul leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Vancouver 72: Istanbul leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Vancouver 42: Istanbul leads by 48 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Vancouver 42: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 45 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Vancouver 45: Istanbul leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 11 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Vancouver 55: Istanbul leads by 31 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Vancouver 27: Istanbul leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Vancouver 52: Istanbul leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Vancouver 50: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Istanbul and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on culture and sights and nightlife with your weighting.

Vancouver
56match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulVancouver
Official languageTurkishFrench, English
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation100 m2 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulVancouver
City population15,655,924662,248
People per km²2,9305,759
Museums within 10 km7326
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.