VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Chicago 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 Chicago for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • families

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • day trips

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. Chicago 50, Siem Reap 5: Chicago leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Siem Reap 45: Chicago leads by 35 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Siem Reap 42: Chicago leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Siem Reap 40: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Siem Reap 35: Chicago leads by 43 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Siem Reap 30: Chicago leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Siem Reap 38: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 55 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Siem Reap 32: Chicago leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

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

Siem Reap
47match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoSiem 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. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureChicagoSiem Reap
Official language-Khmer
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Riel (KHR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation179 m18 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoSiem Reap
City population2,746,388147,866
People per km²4,529-
Museums within 10 km446
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago 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. 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. 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.

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.