VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Manila 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 Manila for

  • live music and the arts
  • shopping
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • prices

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. Manila 12, Phnom Penh 6: Manila leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Phnom Penh 62: Manila leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Phnom Penh 62: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Phnom Penh 58: Manila leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Phnom Penh 28: Manila leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Phnom Penh 34: Manila leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Phnom Penh 32: Manila leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Phnom Penh 35: Phnom Penh leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Phnom Penh 46: Manila leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 9 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Phnom Penh 32: Manila leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Manila
Best match
48match

Wins on live music and the arts and shopping with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on wellness and getting around 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

Phnom Penh in July

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

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaPhnom Penh
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishKhmer
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Riel (KHR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency number911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation9 m11 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaPhnom Penh
City population1,902,5902,129,371
People per km²76,1043,138
Museums within 10 km273
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila 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). 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.