VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Chengdu 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 Chengdu for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • beaches

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. Chengdu 5, Phnom Penh 6: Phnom Penh leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Phnom Penh 62: Chengdu leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Phnom Penh 58: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Phnom Penh 28: Chengdu leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Phnom Penh 34: Chengdu leads by 46 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Phnom Penh 32: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Phnom Penh 35: Chengdu leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Phnom Penh 46: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Phnom Penh 32: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Phnom Penh 50: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 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
ChengduPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduPhnom Penh
Official languagePutonghuaKhmer
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Riel (KHR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation500 m11 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduPhnom Penh
City population20,937,7572,129,371
People per km²1,4563,138
Museums within 10 km103
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chengdu 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.