VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Phnom Penh?

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 Amsterdam for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Phnom Penh’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. Amsterdam 25, Phnom Penh 6: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Phnom Penh 62: Amsterdam leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Phnom Penh 58: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Phnom Penh 28: Amsterdam leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Phnom Penh 34: Amsterdam leads by 53 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Phnom Penh 32: Amsterdam leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Phnom Penh 35: Amsterdam leads by 51 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Phnom Penh 46: Amsterdam leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 64 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Phnom Penh 32: Amsterdam leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Phnom Penh in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
168 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamPhnom Penh

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam 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.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamPhnom Penh
Official languageDutchKhmer
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation-2 m11 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamPhnom Penh
City population921,4682,129,371
People per km²4,2083,138
Museums within 10 km1013
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Phnom Penh 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.