

Photos: Bruges by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Bruges 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 Bruges for
- day trips
- getting around
- beaches
What lies behind each score is written up on Bruges’s own page.
Choose Phnom Penh for
- prices
- nightlife
- wellness
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.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bruges and Phnom Penh.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.
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.
Bruges in July
Phnom Penh in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Bruges 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.
Bruges's sunshine is measured 37 km from the centre, at Vlissingen.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bruges: 2009-2025 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Zeebrugge / Zeemanshaard (15.8 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Bruges | Phnom Penh |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | French, German, Dutch | Khmer |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Riel (KHR) |
| Sockets | CE230 V, 50 Hz | ACG230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer | UTC+7 |
| Emergency number | 112 | Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118 |
| Elevation | 2 m | 11 m |
| Main airport | Brussels Airport (BRU)94 km from centre191 non-stop destinations | Techo International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days | 21 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Bruges | Phnom Penh |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 118,509 | 2,129,371 |
| People per km² | 840 | 3,138 |
| Museums within 10 km | 38 | 3 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 3 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | None | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bruges or Phnom Penh somewhere new.