Ottawa or Philadelphia?
Two destinations compared on nine measures of openly sourced data. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.
Your match
Wins on value for money with your weighting.
Wins on museums & heritage and nightlife with your weighting.
What matters to you?
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.
Scoreboard
Each measure scored 0 to 100. Open a row for the figures behind the score.
Beaches & swimming. Ottawa and Philadelphia are level on 0.
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season months | 0 | 0 |
| Beaches 10 km | 9 | 1 |
| Coast distance | 423 km | 13 km |
| Water distance | — | — |
Places to eat. Philadelphia leads by 13 points.13
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 64 | 77 |
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 684 | 1,714 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 34 | 35 |
Museums & heritage. Philadelphia leads by 28 points.28
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 32 | 60 |
| Museums within 10 km | 15 | 89 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 8 | 48 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 53 | 54 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 | 1 |
Nightlife. Philadelphia leads by 15 points.15
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 44 | 59 |
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 432 | 930 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 303 | 575 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 70 | 62 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 35 | 41 |
Nature & day trips. Philadelphia leads by 8 points.8
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 41 | 49 |
| Protected land share 50 km % | 8 | 14 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 100 | 89 |
| Park area within 2 km | 122 hectares | 75 hectares |
Good for families. Philadelphia leads by 7 points.7
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 46 | 53 |
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 11 | 16 |
| Park area within 2 km | 122 hectares | 75 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 1 | 4 |
Sights concentration. Philadelphia leads by 4 points.4
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50 | 54 |
| Notable places within 2 km | 71 | 88 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 | 5 |
Value for money. Ottawa leads by 11 points.11
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 54 | 43 |
| Price level global | 84 | 100 |
| Daily budget | — | — |
Year-round weather. Philadelphia leads by 7 points.7
| Ottawa | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 53 | 60 |
| Monthly daytime high | -4.9 °C to 27 °C | 5.2 °C to 31 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 53 mm to 94 mm | 69 mm to 112 mm |
| Dry months | 0 | 0 |
When should you go?
The figures behind each month. Each row is shaded against that destination's own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Ottawa: 1991-2020 normals, Ottawa CDA RCS (5.3 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Ottawa | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|
| TorontoYYZ, YHM, YTZ | 1 h 5 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 1 h 20 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| MontrealYUL, YHU, YMX | 50 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 1 h 25 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| CancunCUN | 4 h 5 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 3 h 25 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| ChicagoORD, MDW, DPA, PWK +1 | 1 h 55 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 1 h 55 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| Fort LauderdaleFLL, FXE | 3 h 15 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 2 h 35 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| Punta CanaPUJ | 4 h 15 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 3 h 35 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| OrlandoMCO, SFB, ORL | 2 h 55 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 2 h 20 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| BostonBOS, PSM | 1 h 15 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 1 h 10 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| TampaTPA, PIE | 3 h 5 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 2 h 25 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 6 h 55 m no fares YOW · 12 km | 7 h 20 m no fares PHL · 11 km |
The busiest departure cities for these two, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop to both. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Where both columns name the same airport it is one flight, and the difference between the two is the distance printed beside it.
Before you go
| Measure | Ottawa | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | French, English | – |
| Currency | Canadian Dollar (CAD) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer | UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 70 m | 12 m |
| Main airport | Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW)12 km from centre46 non-stop destinations | Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre128 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 12 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Ottawa | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 1,017,449 | 1,603,797 |
| People per km² | 366 | 4,339 |
| Museums within 10 km | 20 | 54 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 1 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 62 | 75 |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ottawa or Philadelphia somewhere new.