VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Mexico City 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 Mexico City for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • 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. Mexico City 5, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, Vancouver 72: Mexico City leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, Vancouver 42: Mexico City leads by 46 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, Vancouver 42: Mexico City leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, Vancouver 45: Mexico City leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, Vancouver 55: Mexico City leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, Vancouver 27: Mexico City leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, Vancouver 52: Mexico City leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, Vancouver 50: Vancouver leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Vancouver
56match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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
No seasea
13 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
Mexico CityVancouver

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). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CityVancouver
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaFrench, English
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation2,240 m2 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureMexico CityVancouver
City population9,209,944662,248
People per km²6,2025,759
Museums within 10 km10826
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km60
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

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