VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Cusco or Phnom Penh?

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
  • day trips
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • families
  • wellness
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Phnom Penh’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. Cusco 3, Phnom Penh 6: Phnom Penh leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Phnom Penh 62: Cusco leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Phnom Penh 28: Cusco leads by 58 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Phnom Penh 34: Cusco leads by 44 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Phnom Penh 32: Phnom Penh leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Phnom Penh 35: Cusco leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Phnom Penh 46: Cusco leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Phnom Penh 32: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 33, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Cusco
Best match
49match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on families 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.

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
11 hdaylight a day

Phnom Penh in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
168 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
CuscoPhnom Penh

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). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoPhnom Penh
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaKhmer
CurrencySol (PEN)Riel (KHR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+7
Emergency number111 or 911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation3,399 m11 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoPhnom Penh
City population428,4502,129,371
People per km²-3,138
Museums within 10 km113
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cusco or Phnom Penh 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). 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.