VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Abu Dhabi or Siem Reap?

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 Abu Dhabi for

  • beaches
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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. Abu Dhabi 78, Siem Reap 5: Abu Dhabi leads by 73 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi 55, Siem Reap 45: Abu Dhabi leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Siem Reap 40: Siem Reap leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Siem Reap 35: Abu Dhabi leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Siem Reap 30: Siem Reap leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Siem Reap 38: Abu Dhabi leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 50 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi and Siem Reap are level on 32.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Siem Reap
47match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Abu Dhabi in July

43 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Abu Dhabi's temperatures are measured 26 km from the centre, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi 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.

Siem Reap has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Abu Dhabi: 1991-2020 normals, Abu Dhabi International Airport (25.7 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiSiem Reap
Official languageArabicKhmer
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation14 m18 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-21 days

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiSiem Reap
City population1,570,000147,866
People per km²1,615-
Museums within 10 km36
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Siem Reap 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). 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.