VacationSelector
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Vancouver or Wilmington?

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 Vancouver for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’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. Vancouver 42, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Vancouver 72, Wilmington 48: Vancouver leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Vancouver 42, Wilmington 40: Vancouver leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Vancouver 42, Wilmington 40: Vancouver leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Vancouver 97, Wilmington 58: Vancouver leads by 39 points.
Day trips. Vancouver and Wilmington are level on 45.
Good for families. Vancouver 72, Wilmington 62: Vancouver leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Vancouver 73, Wilmington 28: Vancouver leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Vancouver 55, Wilmington 33: Vancouver leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Vancouver 27, Wilmington 42: Wilmington leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Vancouver 52, Wilmington 40: Vancouver leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Vancouver 50, Wilmington 33: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Vancouver and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Vancouver
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
VancouverWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureVancouverWilmington
Official languageFrench, English-
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation2 m9 m
Main airportVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureVancouverWilmington
City population662,248115,451
People per km²5,759839
Museums within 10 km262
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Vancouver or Wilmington 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.