VacationSelector
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig
The US Capitol, Washington DC
Washington DCThe US Capitol

Photos: Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License; Washington DC by Guohua Song, Pexels License.

Manila or Washington DC?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Washington DC for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Washington DC’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 and Washington DC are level on 12.
Food & drink. Manila 64, Washington DC 67: Washington DC leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Manila 54, Washington DC 84: Washington DC leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Manila 64, Washington DC 57: Manila leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manila 40, Washington DC 64: Washington DC leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Manila 42, Washington DC 73: Washington DC leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Manila 42, Washington DC 73: Washington DC leads by 31 points.
Getting around. Manila 26, Washington DC 72: Washington DC leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Manila 60, Washington DC 52: Manila leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Manila 77, Washington DC 28: Manila leads by 49 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manila 50, Washington DC 67: Washington DC leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manila 40, Washington DC 26: Manila leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manila and Washington DC.

Your match

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

Manila
48match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Washington DC
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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

Washington DC in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
108 mmrain in the month
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ManilaWashington DC

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre). Washington DC: 1991-2020 normals, Washington National Airport (5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManilaWashington DC
Official languageEnglish, Filipino, Taglish-
CurrencyPhilippine Peso (PHP)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation9 m72 m
Main airportNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinationsRonald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)5 km from centre105 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureManilaWashington DC
City population1,902,590689,545
People per km²76,1043,896
Museums within 10 km2798
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months3 months

Where else could you go?

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