VacationSelector
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Istanbul or Manila?

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 Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose Manila for

  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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. Istanbul 45, Manila 12: Istanbul leads by 33 points.
Food & drink. Istanbul 87, Manila 64: Istanbul leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Istanbul 90, Manila 54: Istanbul leads by 36 points.
Nightlife. Istanbul 77, Manila 64: Istanbul leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Istanbul 52, Manila 40: Istanbul leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Istanbul 55, Manila 42: Istanbul leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Istanbul 55, Manila 42: Istanbul leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Istanbul 62, Manila 26: Istanbul leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Istanbul 86, Manila 60: Istanbul leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Istanbul 60, Manila 77: Manila leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Istanbul 62, Manila 50: Istanbul leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Istanbul 75, Manila 40: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Istanbul and Manila.

Your match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around with your weighting.

Manila
48match

Wins on prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
IstanbulManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIstanbulManila
Official languageTurkishEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+8
Emergency number112911
Elevation100 m9 m
Main airportİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureIstanbulManila
City population15,655,9241,902,590
People per km²2,93076,104
Museums within 10 km7327
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul or Manila 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). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.