VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Auckland or Manila?

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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Manila for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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. Auckland 68, Manila 12: Auckland leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Manila 64: Manila leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Manila 54: Manila leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Manila 64: Manila leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Manila 40: Auckland leads by 43 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Manila 42: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Manila 42: Auckland leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Manila 26: Auckland leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Manila 60: Manila leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Manila 77: Manila leads by 45 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Manila 50: Manila leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Manila 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Manila.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandManila

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandManila
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m9 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandManila
City population1,470,1001,902,590
People per km²2,63076,104
Museums within 10 km1527
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Manila 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.