VacationSelector
The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
CairoThe pyramids of Giza
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Cairo by Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Cairo 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 Cairo for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • wellness
  • nightlife
  • 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. Cairo 10, Phnom Penh 6: Cairo leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Cairo 60, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Cairo 96, Phnom Penh 62: Cairo leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Cairo 48, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cairo 30, Phnom Penh 28: Cairo leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Cairo 66, Phnom Penh 34: Cairo leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Cairo and Phnom Penh are level on 32.
Getting around. Cairo and Phnom Penh are level on 35.
Shopping & style. Cairo 58, Phnom Penh 46: Cairo leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Cairo 95, Phnom Penh 86: Cairo leads by 9 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cairo 50, Phnom Penh 32: Cairo leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cairo 15, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 35 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairo and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Cairo
Best match
50match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on wellness 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.

Cairo in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
CairoPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cairo: 1991-2020 normals, Helwan (21.9 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCairoPhnom 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
Elevation23 m11 m
Main airportCairo International Airport (CAI)17 km from centre127 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureCairoPhnom Penh
City population9,801,5362,129,371
People per km²18,5643,138
Museums within 10 km483
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

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