VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light, Panama City
Panama CityThe towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Panama City by Ayaita, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Manila or Panama City?

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 Manila for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Panama City for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Panama City’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. Manila 12, Panama City 44: Panama City leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Panama City 57: Manila leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Panama City 62: Panama City leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Panama City 62: Manila leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Panama City 74: Panama City leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Panama City 50: Panama City leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Panama City 45: Panama City leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Panama City 40: Panama City leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Panama City 52: Manila leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Panama City 55: Manila leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Panama City 34: Manila leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Panama City 22: Manila leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Panama City.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Panama City
50match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Panama City in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
161 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaPanama City

Where the figures come from

Panama City has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Panama City: 1991-2020 normals, Tocumen (20.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaPanama City
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishSpanish
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Balboa (PAB)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5
Emergency number911911
Elevation9 m20 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsTocumen International Airport (PTY)20 km from centre92 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaPanama City
City population1,902,5901,540,000
People per km²76,1045,600
Museums within 10 km2710
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila or Panama City 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.