VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Aswan 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 Aswan for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts

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. Aswan 10, Phnom Penh 6: Aswan leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Phnom Penh 62: Aswan leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 50 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Phnom Penh 28: Aswan leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Phnom Penh 34: Aswan leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Aswan and Phnom Penh are level on 32.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Phnom Penh 35: Aswan leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Phnom Penh 46: Phnom Penh leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Phnom Penh 86: Aswan leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Phnom Penh 32: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
Best match
44match

Wins on nightlife and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Aswan in July

42 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Phnom Penh in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AswanPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanPhnom Penh
Official languageArabicKhmer
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation99 m11 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureAswanPhnom Penh
City population401,8902,129,371
People per km²1,0723,138
Museums within 10 km33
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Aswan 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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.