VacationSelector
The Treasury, Al-Khazneh, cut into the rock, Petra
PetraThe Treasury, Al-Khazneh, cut into the rock
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Petra by Yasir Gürbüz, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Petra or Siem Reap?

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 Petra for

  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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. Petra and Siem Reap are level on 5.
Food & drink. Petra 22, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Petra 85, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Petra 5, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Petra 78, Siem Reap 40: Petra leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Petra 30, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Petra 25, Siem Reap 35: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Petra 25, Siem Reap 30: Siem Reap leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Petra 18, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Petra 45, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Petra 10, Siem Reap 32: Siem Reap leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Petra 28, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Petra and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Petra
31match

Wins on nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Siem Reap
Best match
47match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Petra in July

35 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
PetraSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Petra's temperatures are measured 34 km from the centre, at Ma'An.

Petra's station stands 219 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Petra has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Siem Reap has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Petra: 1991-2020 normals, Ma'An (33.9 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasurePetraSiem Reap
Official languageArabicKhmer
CurrencyJordanian Dinar (JOD)Riel (KHR)
SocketsBCFGJ230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+7
Emergency number911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation850 m18 m
Main airportKing Hussein International Airport (AQJ)90 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-21 days

By the numbers

MeasurePetraSiem Reap
City population-147,866
Museums within 10 km26
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Petra or Siem Reap 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.