VacationSelector
The steamboat Natchez on the Mississippi, New Orleans
New OrleansThe steamboat Natchez on the Mississippi
Château Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace, Quebec City
Quebec CityChâteau Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace

Photos: New Orleans by Bernard Spragg, CC0; Quebec City by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

New Orleans or Quebec City?

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 New Orleans for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Quebec City for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Quebec City’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. New Orleans 14, Quebec City 18: Quebec City leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. New Orleans 84, Quebec City 57: New Orleans leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. New Orleans 67, Quebec City 70: Quebec City leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. New Orleans 85, Quebec City 42: New Orleans leads by 43 points.
Nature & outdoors. New Orleans 42, Quebec City 79: Quebec City leads by 37 points.
Day trips. New Orleans 52, Quebec City 58: Quebec City leads by 6 points.
Good for families. New Orleans 55, Quebec City 64: Quebec City leads by 9 points.
Getting around. New Orleans 55, Quebec City 50: New Orleans leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. New Orleans 54, Quebec City 45: New Orleans leads by 9 points.
Affordability. New Orleans 40, Quebec City 45: Quebec City leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. New Orleans 80, Quebec City 52: New Orleans leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. New Orleans 25, Quebec City 55: Quebec City leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: New Orleans and Quebec City.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

New Orleans
54match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Quebec City
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

New Orleans in July

33 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
169 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Quebec City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
New OrleansQuebec City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. New Orleans: 1991-2020 normals, New Orleans Airport (2.7 km from centre). Quebec City: 1991-2020 normals, Beauport (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNew OrleansQuebec City
Official language-French, English
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation-2 m98 m
Main airportLouis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)18 km from centre51 non-stop destinationsQuebec Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)13 km from centre34 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureNew OrleansQuebec City
City population383,997574,482
People per km²4231,184
Museums within 10 km1616
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C7 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow New Orleans or Quebec City 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). 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.