VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket, Phuket
PhuketThe Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Phuket by Mussi Katz, CC0.

Philadelphia or Phuket?

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 Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Phuket for

  • wellness
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Phuket’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. Philadelphia 36, Phuket 90: Phuket leads by 54 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Phuket 66: Phuket leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Phuket 35: Philadelphia leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Phuket 72: Phuket leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Phuket 80: Phuket leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Phuket 45: Philadelphia leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Phuket 65: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Phuket 22: Philadelphia leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Phuket 42: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Phuket 68: Phuket leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Phuket 20: Philadelphia leads by 52 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Phuket 82: Phuket leads by 56 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Phuket.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around with your weighting.

Phuket
57match

Wins on wellness 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.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Phuket in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
287 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaPhuket

Where the figures come from

Phuket's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Phuket Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Phuket: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1961-1990) normals, Phuket Airport (26.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaPhuket
Official language-Thai
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Baht (THB)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation12 m19 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsPhuket International Airport (HKT)27 km from centre85 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaPhuket
City population1,603,79777,610
People per km²4,3396,468
Museums within 10 km542
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Phuket 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). 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.