VacationSelector
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Helsinki 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 Helsinki for

  • getting around
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Helsinki’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. Helsinki 28, Phnom Penh 6: Helsinki leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Helsinki 52, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Helsinki 60, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Helsinki 50, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Helsinki 58, Phnom Penh 28: Helsinki leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Helsinki 62, Phnom Penh 34: Helsinki leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Helsinki 76, Phnom Penh 32: Helsinki leads by 44 points.
Getting around. Helsinki 86, Phnom Penh 35: Helsinki leads by 51 points.
Shopping & style. Helsinki 62, Phnom Penh 46: Helsinki leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Helsinki 30, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Helsinki 63, Phnom Penh 32: Helsinki leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Helsinki 82, Phnom Penh 50: Helsinki leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Helsinki and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Helsinki
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and families 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.

Helsinki in July

22 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Phnom Penh in July

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

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
HelsinkiPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHelsinkiPhnom Penh
Official languageFinnish, SwedishKhmer
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation17 m11 m
Main airportHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureHelsinkiPhnom Penh
City population694,3922,129,371
People per km²3,2393,138
Museums within 10 km743
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Helsinki 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.