VacationSelector
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda

Photos: Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Penang 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 Penang for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Penang’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. Penang 44, Phnom Penh 6: Penang leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Penang 86, Phnom Penh 62: Penang leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Penang 70, Phnom Penh 62: Penang leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Penang 40, Phnom Penh 58: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Penang 55, Phnom Penh 28: Penang leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Penang 42, Phnom Penh 34: Penang leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Penang 52, Phnom Penh 32: Penang leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Penang 40, Phnom Penh 35: Penang leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Penang 42, Phnom Penh 46: Phnom Penh leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Penang 78, Phnom Penh 86: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Penang 30, Phnom Penh 32: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Penang 42, Phnom Penh 50: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Penang and Phnom Penh.

Your match

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

Penang
Best match
52match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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.

Penang in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
189 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
12 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PenangPhnom Penh

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre). Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePenangPhnom Penh
Official languageMalayKhmer
CurrencyMalaysian Ringgit (MYR)Riel (KHR)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency number999Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation4 m11 m
Main airportPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-21 days

By the numbers

MeasurePenangPhnom Penh
City population794,3132,129,371
People per km²-3,138
Museums within 10 km93
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 Penang 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.