VacationSelector
The old town on the Neckar, Heidelberg
HeidelbergThe old town on the Neckar
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Heidelberg by Kuanling Chen, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Heidelberg 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 Heidelberg for

  • getting around
  • families
  • day trips

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

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. Heidelberg 7, Siem Reap 5: Heidelberg leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Heidelberg 40, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Heidelberg 58, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Heidelberg 38, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Heidelberg 60, Siem Reap 40: Heidelberg leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Heidelberg 78, Siem Reap 55: Heidelberg leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Heidelberg 62, Siem Reap 35: Heidelberg leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Heidelberg 72, Siem Reap 30: Heidelberg leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Heidelberg 40, Siem Reap 38: Heidelberg leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Heidelberg 42, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Heidelberg 48, Siem Reap 32: Heidelberg leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Heidelberg 44, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Heidelberg and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Heidelberg
49match

Wins on getting around 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.

Heidelberg in July

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

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
HeidelbergSiem 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. Heidelberg: 1991-2020 normals, Heidelberg (4.5 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureHeidelbergSiem Reap
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
Elevation114 m18 m
Main airportFrankfurt Main Airport (FRA)69 km from centre281 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureHeidelbergSiem Reap
City population156,092147,866
People per km²1,433-
Museums within 10 km176
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Heidelberg 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. 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.