VacationSelector
Fort San Pedro in Cebu City, Cebu
CebuFort San Pedro in Cebu City
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía

Photos: Cebu by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Cebu or Cusco?

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 Cebu for

  • beaches
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Cusco for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Cusco’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. Cebu 60, Cusco 3: Cebu leads by 57 points.
Food & drink. Cebu 58, Cusco 56: Cebu leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Cebu 40, Cusco 81: Cusco leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Cebu 46, Cusco 42: Cebu leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cebu 60, Cusco 86: Cusco leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Cebu 44, Cusco 78: Cusco leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Cebu 45, Cusco 10: Cebu leads by 35 points.
Getting around. Cebu 26, Cusco 48: Cusco leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Cebu 44, Cusco 52: Cusco leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Cebu 80, Cusco 73: Cebu leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cebu 25, Cusco 30: Cusco leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cebu 50, Cusco 33: Cebu leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cebu and Cusco.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Cebu
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Cusco
49match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cebu in July

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

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CebuCusco

Where the figures come from

Cusco's station stands 151 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. Cebu: 1991-2020 normals, Mactan (7.1 km from centre). Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCebuCusco
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Sol (PEN)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5
Emergency number911111 or 911
Elevation135 m3,399 m
Main airportMactan Cebu International Airport (CEB)9 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureCebuCusco
City population965,332428,450
People per km²3,065-
Museums within 10 km511
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cebu or Cusco 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.