VacationSelector
The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
CairoThe pyramids of Giza
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Cairo by Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Cairo or Siem Reap?

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

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

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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, Siem Reap 5: Cairo leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Cairo 60, Siem Reap 45: Cairo leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Cairo 96, Siem Reap 88: Cairo leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Cairo 48, Siem Reap 42: Cairo leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cairo 30, Siem Reap 40: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Cairo 66, Siem Reap 55: Cairo leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Cairo 32, Siem Reap 35: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Cairo 35, Siem Reap 30: Cairo leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Cairo 58, Siem Reap 38: Cairo leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Cairo 95, Siem Reap 88: Cairo leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cairo 50, Siem Reap 32: Cairo leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cairo 15, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 45 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairo and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Cairo
Best match
50match

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

Siem Reap
47match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors 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

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CairoSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Siem Reap has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cairo: 1991-2020 normals, Helwan (21.9 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureCairoSiem Reap
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 m18 m
Main airportCairo International Airport (CAI)17 km from centre127 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureCairoSiem Reap
City population9,801,536147,866
People per km²18,564-
Museums within 10 km486
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 Siem Reap 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.