VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Philadelphia?

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
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Philadelphia 62: Chiang Mai leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Philadelphia 52: Chiang Mai leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Philadelphia 57: Chiang Mai leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Philadelphia 40: Chiang Mai leads by 50 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Philadelphia 26: Chiang Mai leads by 56 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on live music and the arts 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.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiPhiladelphia
Official languageThai-
CurrencyBaht (THB)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation310 m12 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiPhiladelphia
City population1,198,0001,603,797
People per km²2,9584,339
Museums within 10 km654
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 Chiang Mai or Philadelphia 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. 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.