VacationSelector
The Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline, Macau
MacauThe Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Macau by tian Jin, Pexels License; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Macau 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 Macau for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • 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. Macau 24, Phnom Penh 6: Macau leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Macau 77, Phnom Penh 62: Macau leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Macau and Phnom Penh are level on 62.
Nightlife. Macau 40, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Macau 5, Phnom Penh 28: Phnom Penh leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Macau 52, Phnom Penh 34: Macau leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Macau 48, Phnom Penh 32: Macau leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Macau 60, Phnom Penh 35: Macau leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Macau 58, Phnom Penh 46: Macau leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Macau 44, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Macau 36, Phnom Penh 32: Macau leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Macau 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: Macau and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Macau
46match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Macau in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
281 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 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

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MacauPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Macau: 1991-2020 normals, Taipa (3.9 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMacauPhnom Penh
Official languagePortuguese, Cantonese, Standard ChineseKhmer
CurrencyPataca (MOP)Riel (KHR)
SocketsFGM220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency number999Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation22 m11 m
Main airportMacau International Airport (MFM)7 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-21 days

By the numbers

MeasureMacauPhnom Penh
City population682,1002,129,371
People per km²5,9163,138
Museums within 10 km283
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C8 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Macau 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.