VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
Place d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal
MontrealPlace d'Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; Montreal by Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Mexico City 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 Mexico City for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Montreal for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • wellness

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. Mexico City 5, Montreal 25: Montreal leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, Montreal 78: Mexico City leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, Montreal 60: Mexico City leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, Montreal 75: Mexico City leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, Montreal 66: Montreal leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, Montreal 55: Mexico City leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, Montreal 68: Montreal leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, Montreal 72: Montreal leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, Montreal 60: Mexico City leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, Montreal 45: Mexico City leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, Montreal 76: Montreal leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, Montreal 57: Montreal leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and Montreal.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Mexico City
63match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Montreal
61match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 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

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
Mexico CityMontreal

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre). Montreal: 1991-2020 normals, Montreal McTavish (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CityMontreal
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaFrench, English
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation2,240 m31 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 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

MeasureMexico CityMontreal
City population9,209,9441,895,211
People per km²6,2023,806
Museums within 10 km10837
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km60

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mexico City or Montreal 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). 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.