Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Ho Chi Minh City by trungydang, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Cusco or Ho Chi Minh City?
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 Cusco for
- nature and the outdoors
- culture and sights
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Cusco’s own page.
Choose Ho Chi Minh City for
- food and drink
- families
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Ho Chi Minh City’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Ho Chi Minh City.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on food and drink and families with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Cusco in July
Ho Chi Minh City in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
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.
Ho Chi Minh City has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Ho Chi Minh City: 1991-2020 normals, Ho Chi Minh (6 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Cusco | Ho Chi Minh City |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Aymara, Quechua | Vietnamese |
| Currency | Sol (PEN) | Dong (VND) |
| Sockets | ABC220 V, 60 Hz | ACFG220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | UTC+7 |
| Emergency number | 111 or 911 | Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114 |
| Elevation | 3,399 m | 13 m |
| Main airport | Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations | Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)7 km from centre90 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 16 days | - |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cusco | Ho Chi Minh City |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 428,450 | 14,002,598 |
| People per km² | - | 2,068 |
| Museums within 10 km | 11 | 9 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 0 |
| 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 Cusco or Ho Chi Minh City somewhere new.