VacationSelector
Haedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea, Busan
BusanHaedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Busan by Andrea De Santis, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Busan 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 Busan for

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose Manila for

  • prices
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

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. Busan 68, Manila 12: Busan leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Busan 72, Manila 64: Busan leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Busan 52, Manila 54: Manila leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Busan 60, Manila 64: Manila leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Busan 74, Manila 40: Busan leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Busan 74, Manila 42: Busan leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Busan 70, Manila 42: Busan leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Busan 68, Manila 26: Busan leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Busan and Manila are level on 60.
Affordability. Busan 56, Manila 77: Manila leads by 21 points.
Live music & performing arts. Busan 42, Manila 50: Manila leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Busan 78, Manila 40: Busan leads by 38 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Busan and Manila.

Your match

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

Busan
Best match
65match

Wins on beaches and getting around with your weighting.

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Busan in July

27 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
352 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
BusanManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Busan: 1991-2020 normals, Pusan (9.7 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBusanManila
Official languageKorean, Korean Sign LanguageEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyWon (KRW)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsCF220 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 119, fire 119911
Elevation30 m9 m
Main airportGimhae International Airport (PUS)12 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureBusanManila
City population3,453,1981,902,590
People per km²4,48676,104
Museums within 10 km727
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Busan 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.