VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Samarkand 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 Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • beaches

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. Samarkand 4, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Vancouver 42: Samarkand leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 57 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Vancouver 45: Samarkand leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Vancouver 55: Vancouver leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Vancouver 27: Samarkand leads by 53 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Vancouver 50: Vancouver leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Samarkand and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Vancouver
Best match
56match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 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°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandVancouver
Official languageUzbekFrench, English
CurrencyUzbekistan Sum (UZS)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsCFI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+5UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation702 m2 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandVancouver
City population546,303662,248
People per km²5,0585,759
Museums within 10 km1126
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Samarkand 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.