VacationSelector
A chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain, Whistler
WhistlerA chairlift and the runs on Whistler Mountain
York Minster from the city walls, York
YorkYork Minster from the city walls

Photos: Whistler by Ruth Hartnup, CC BY 2.0, cropped; York by PAUL FARMER, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Whistler or York?

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 Whistler for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose York for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on York’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. Whistler 30, York 14: Whistler leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Whistler 40, York 42: York leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Whistler 20, York 70: York leads by 50 points.
Nightlife. Whistler 42, York 36: Whistler leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Whistler 97, York 62: Whistler leads by 35 points.
Day trips. Whistler 30, York 80: York leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Whistler 68, York 60: Whistler leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Whistler 68, York 72: York leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Whistler 30, York 46: York leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Whistler 12, York 38: York leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Whistler 15, York 38: York leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Whistler 60, York 34: Whistler leads by 26 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Whistler and York.

Your match

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

Whistler
43match

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

York
Best match
49match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Whistler in July

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

York in July

21 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
62 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-5°0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
WhistlerYork

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.

York 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.

York's sunshine is measured 48 km from the centre, at Leeming.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Whistler: 1991-2020 normals, Whistler - Nesters (1.1 km from centre). York: 1991-2020 normals, Linton-On-Ouse (14.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureWhistlerYork
Official languageFrench, EnglishEnglish
CurrencyCanadian Dollar (CAD)Pound Sterling (GBP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number911112 or 999
Elevation670 m25 m
Main airportVancouver International Airport (YVR)104 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsLeeds Bradford Airport (LBA)39 km from centre69 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureWhistlerYork
City population13,982208,400
People per km²58766
Museums within 10 km124
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

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