VacationSelector
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Dubai 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 Dubai for

  • beaches
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Dubai 80, Siem Reap 5: Dubai leads by 75 points.
Food & drink. Dubai 76, Siem Reap 45: Dubai leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Dubai 40, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 48 points.
Nightlife. Dubai 62, Siem Reap 42: Dubai leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubai 25, Siem Reap 40: Siem Reap leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Dubai 45, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Dubai 82, Siem Reap 35: Dubai leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Dubai 42, Siem Reap 30: Dubai leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Dubai 82, Siem Reap 38: Dubai leads by 44 points.
Affordability. Dubai 32, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubai 40, Siem Reap 32: Dubai leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubai 46, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubai and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Dubai
Best match
54match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Siem Reap
47match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
33 °Csea
14 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°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
DubaiSiem 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. Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureDubaiSiem Reap
Official languageArabicKhmer
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation0 m18 m
Main airportDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-21 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubaiSiem Reap
City population3,944,751147,866
Museums within 10 km146
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubai 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.