VacationSelector
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Parliament Hill across the Ottawa River, Ottawa
OttawaParliament Hill across the Ottawa River

Photos: Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Ottawa by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Lyon or Ottawa?

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 Lyon for

  • food and drink
  • nightlife
  • day trips

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

Choose Ottawa for

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Ottawa’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. Lyon 12, Ottawa 35: Ottawa leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Lyon 84, Ottawa 45: Lyon leads by 39 points.
Culture & sights. Lyon 77, Ottawa 62: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Lyon 58, Ottawa 35: Lyon leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Lyon 64, Ottawa 68: Ottawa leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Lyon 77, Ottawa 55: Lyon leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Lyon 62, Ottawa 68: Ottawa leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Lyon 77, Ottawa 62: Lyon leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Lyon 58, Ottawa 40: Lyon leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Lyon 42, Ottawa 40: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Lyon 68, Ottawa 52: Lyon leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Lyon 40, Ottawa 55: Ottawa leads by 15 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on food and drink and nightlife with your weighting.

Ottawa
51match

Wins on beaches 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.

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Ottawa in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
LyonOttawa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre). Ottawa: 1991-2020 normals, Ottawa CDA RCS (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLyonOttawa
Official languageFrenchFrench, English
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation160 m70 m
Main airportLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinationsOttawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW)12 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLyonOttawa
City population519,1271,017,449
People per km²10,838366
Museums within 10 km4320
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Lyon or Ottawa 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.