VacationSelector
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake
The Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket, Phuket
PhuketThe Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket

Photos: Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Phuket by Mussi Katz, CC0.

Guilin or Phuket?

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

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • prices

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

Choose Phuket for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Phuket’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, Phuket 90: Phuket leads by 82 points.
Food & drink. Guilin 45, Phuket 66: Phuket leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Guilin 40, Phuket 35: Guilin leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Guilin 30, Phuket 72: Phuket leads by 42 points.
Nature & outdoors. Guilin 88, Phuket 80: Guilin leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Guilin 56, Phuket 45: Guilin leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Guilin 45, Phuket 65: Phuket leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Guilin 45, Phuket 22: Guilin leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Guilin 28, Phuket 42: Phuket leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Guilin 78, Phuket 68: Guilin leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Guilin 30, Phuket 20: Guilin leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Guilin 40, Phuket 82: Phuket leads by 42 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Guilin and Phuket.

Your match

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

Guilin
44match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Phuket
Best match
57match

Wins on beaches and nightlife 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Phuket in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
287 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
GuilinPhuket

Where the figures come from

Phuket's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Phuket Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre). Phuket: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1961-1990) normals, Phuket Airport (26.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGuilinPhuket
Official languagePutonghuaThai
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Baht (THB)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation153 m19 m
Main airportGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinationsPhuket International Airport (HKT)27 km from centre85 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureGuilinPhuket
City population4,931,13777,610
People per km²-6,468
Museums within 10 km12
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Guilin or Phuket 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.