VacationSelector
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown
Château Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace, Quebec City
Quebec CityChâteau Frontenac from Dufferin Terrace

Photos: Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Quebec City by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Portland 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 Portland for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

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

Choose Quebec City for

  • culture and sights
  • 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. Portland 20, Quebec City 18: Portland leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Portland 68, Quebec City 57: Portland leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Portland 38, Quebec City 70: Quebec City leads by 32 points.
Nightlife. Portland 52, Quebec City 42: Portland leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Portland 84, Quebec City 79: Portland leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Portland and Quebec City are level on 58.
Good for families. Portland 55, Quebec City 64: Quebec City leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Portland 62, Quebec City 50: Portland leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Portland 52, Quebec City 45: Portland leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Portland 38, Quebec City 45: Quebec City leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Portland 55, Quebec City 52: Portland leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Portland 42, Quebec City 55: Quebec City leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Portland 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

Portland
52match

Wins on getting around and food and drink with your weighting.

Quebec City
53match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Quebec City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
119 mmrain in the month
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
PortlandQuebec City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre). Quebec City: 1991-2020 normals, Beauport (3.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePortlandQuebec City
Official language-French, English
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation152 m98 m
Main airportPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsQuebec Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)13 km from centre34 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasurePortlandQuebec City
City population652,503574,482
People per km²1,7361,184
Museums within 10 km1716
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Portland 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. 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.