VacationSelector
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
TokyoShibuya Crossing
A chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain, Whistler
WhistlerA chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain

Photos: Tokyo by Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Whistler by Ruth Hartnup, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Tokyo or Whistler?

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 Tokyo for

  • live music and the arts
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Whistler for

  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Whistler’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. Tokyo 40, Whistler 30: Tokyo leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Tokyo 98, Whistler 40: Tokyo leads by 58 points.
Culture & sights. Tokyo 84, Whistler 20: Tokyo leads by 64 points.
Nightlife. Tokyo 86, Whistler 42: Tokyo leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Tokyo 68, Whistler 97: Whistler leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Tokyo 85, Whistler 30: Tokyo leads by 55 points.
Good for families. Tokyo 95, Whistler 68: Tokyo leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Tokyo 98, Whistler 68: Tokyo leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Tokyo 99, Whistler 30: Tokyo leads by 69 points.
Affordability. Tokyo 48, Whistler 12: Tokyo leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Tokyo 86, Whistler 15: Tokyo leads by 71 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Tokyo 78, Whistler 60: Tokyo leads by 18 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Tokyo and Whistler.

Your match

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

Tokyo
Best match
80match

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

Whistler
43match

Wins on nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Tokyo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
157 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Whistler in July

25 °Cdaytime high
10 °Cnight-time low
46 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
TokyoWhistler

Where the figures come from

Whistler has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Tokyo: 1991-2020 normals, Tokyo (3.6 km from centre). Whistler: 1991-2020 normals, Whistler - Nesters (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureTokyoWhistler
Official languageJapaneseFrench, English
CurrencyYen (JPY)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119911
Elevation6 m670 m
Main airportTokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)18 km from centre98 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)104 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureTokyoWhistler
City population14,264,79813,982
People per km²6,50158
Museums within 10 km1921
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Tokyo or Whistler 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.