VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Merida 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 Merida for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • nightlife
  • prices
  • wellness

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. Merida 50, Phnom Penh 6: Merida leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, Phnom Penh 62: Merida leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, Phnom Penh 62: Merida leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, Phnom Penh 28: Merida leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Merida 80, Phnom Penh 34: Merida leads by 46 points.
Good for families. Merida 50, Phnom Penh 32: Merida leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, Phnom Penh 35: Merida leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, Phnom Penh 46: Merida leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 11 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, Phnom Penh 32: Merida leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 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: Merida and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on day trips and beaches with your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on nightlife and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °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

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaPhnom Penh
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaKhmer
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Riel (KHR)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+7
Emergency number911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation12 m11 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaPhnom Penh
City population892,3632,129,371
People per km²1,0103,138
Museums within 10 km53
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Merida 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.