VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai 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 Chiang Mai for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

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

Choose Manila for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • beaches

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. Chiang Mai 6, Manila 12: Manila leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Manila 64: Chiang Mai leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Manila 54: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Manila 64: Manila leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Manila 40: Chiang Mai leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Manila 42: Chiang Mai leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Manila 42: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Manila 26: Chiang Mai leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Manila 60: Chiang Mai leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Manila 77: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Manila 50: Manila leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Manila 40: Chiang Mai leads by 42 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Manila.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
Best match
56match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Manila
48match

Wins on live music and the arts 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.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 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
Chiang MaiManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiManila
Official languageThaiEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyBaht (THB)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation310 m9 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-18 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiManila
City population1,198,0001,902,590
People per km²2,95876,104
Museums within 10 km627
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.