VacationSelector
The Semperoper, Dresden
DresdenThe Semperoper
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Dresden by Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Dresden 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 Dresden for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • 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. Dresden 10, Phnom Penh 6: Dresden leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Dresden 45, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Dresden 79, Phnom Penh 62: Dresden leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Dresden 47, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dresden 74, Phnom Penh 28: Dresden leads by 46 points.
Day trips. Dresden 76, Phnom Penh 34: Dresden leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Dresden 60, Phnom Penh 32: Dresden leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Dresden 74, Phnom Penh 35: Dresden leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Dresden 42, Phnom Penh 46: Phnom Penh leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Dresden 55, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dresden 76, Phnom Penh 32: Dresden leads by 44 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dresden 42, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dresden and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Dresden
Best match
57match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dresden in July

26 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Phnom Penh in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
168 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
DresdenPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dresden: 1991-2020 normals, Dresden-Strehlen (3.8 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDresdenPhnom Penh
Official languageGermanKhmer
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation126 m11 m
Main airportDresden Airport (DRS)10 km from centre13 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureDresdenPhnom Penh
City population562,7642,129,371
People per km²1,7133,138
Museums within 10 km703
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dresden 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.