VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The House of the Blackheads at dusk, Riga
RigaThe House of the Blackheads at dusk

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Riga by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Manila or Riga?

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

  • shopping
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Riga for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Riga’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, Riga 40: Riga leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Riga 52: Manila leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Riga 66: Riga leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Riga 52: Manila leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Riga 55: Riga leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Riga 60: Riga leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Riga 50: Riga leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Riga 68: Riga leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Riga 45: Manila leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Riga 62: Manila leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Riga 65: Riga leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Riga 50: Riga leads by 10 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Riga.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on shopping and prices with your weighting.

Riga
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around 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

Riga in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
18 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaRiga

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Riga: 1991-2020 normals, Riga (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaRiga
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, TaglishLatvian
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation9 m6 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsRiga International Airport (RIX)9 km from centre93 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days-

By the numbers

MeasureManilaRiga
City population1,902,590588,911
People per km²76,104-
Museums within 10 km2712
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manila or Riga 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.