VacationSelector

Cusco or Manila?

Two destinations compared in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.

The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
Cusco

Photo: Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped

The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
Manila

Photo: Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License

Your match

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Cusco
49
match

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

Manila
48
match

Wins on families and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.

Scoreboard

Our verdict on each category, scored 0 to 100 against fixed benchmark cities.

CuscoManila
Beaches & swimming. Manila leads by 9 points.9
Food & drink. Manila leads by 8 points.8
Culture & sights. Cusco leads by 27 points.27
Nightlife. Manila leads by 22 points.22
Nature & outdoors. Cusco leads by 46 points.46
Day trips. Cusco leads by 36 points.36
Good for families. Manila leads by 32 points.32
Getting around. Cusco leads by 22 points.22
Shopping & style. Manila leads by 8 points.8
Affordability. Manila leads by 4 points.4
Live music & performing arts. Manila leads by 20 points.20
Wellness & relaxation. Manila leads by 7 points.7
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Manila.

When should you go?

Pick the month you can travel and see both cities side by side. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Climate figures for July
JulyCuscoManila
Daytime high20 °C32 °C
Night-time low1 °C25 °C
Rainfall in the month5 mm487 mm
Sea temperatureNo sea29 °C
Daylight11 hours a day13 hours a day

The whole year

Each row is shaded against that destination’s own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that figure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Daytime high, °C
Cusco
20
19
20
20
21
21
20
21
21
21
22
20
Manila
31
31
33
35
34
33
32
31
31
32
31
31
Sea temperature, °C
Cusco
No coastline within reach
Manila
27
27
28
29
30
30
29
29
29
29
28
28
Rainfall, mm
Cusco
159
133
106
36
7
3
5
6
17
50
78
127
Manila
26
24
40
36
220
314
487
564
509
297
152
109
Daylight, hours per day
Cusco
13
13
12
12
12
11
11
12
12
12
13
13
Manila
11
12
12
13
13
13
13
13
12
12
12
11

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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

WorseBetter

Before you go

MeasureCuscoManila
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencySol (PEN)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+8
Emergency number111 or 911911
Elevation3,399 m9 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoManila
City population428,4501,902,590
People per km²-76,104
Museums within 10 km1127
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
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 Manila somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Typical fares from Travelpayouts (Aviasales data). Route-level air passenger statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate and flight figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-27. Typical prices can be up to 7 days old. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.