VacationSelector
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Guilin 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 Guilin for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • families

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • nightlife
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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. Guilin 8, Phnom Penh 6: Guilin leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Guilin 45, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Guilin 40, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Guilin 30, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Guilin 88, Phnom Penh 28: Guilin leads by 60 points.
Day trips. Guilin 56, Phnom Penh 34: Guilin leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Guilin 45, Phnom Penh 32: Guilin leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Guilin 45, Phnom Penh 35: Guilin leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Guilin 28, Phnom Penh 46: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Guilin 78, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Guilin 30, Phnom Penh 32: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Guilin 40, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Guilin and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Guilin
44match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on nightlife 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.

Guilin in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
248 mmrain in the month
14 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

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
GuilinPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGuilinPhnom Penh
Official languagePutonghuaKhmer
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Riel (KHR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation153 m11 m
Main airportGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureGuilinPhnom Penh
City population4,931,1372,129,371
People per km²-3,138
Museums within 10 km13
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 Guilin 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.