VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Rome?

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 Phnom Penh for

  • prices
  • wellness

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

Choose Rome for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Rome’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. Phnom Penh 6, Rome 50: Rome leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Rome 82: Rome leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Rome 99: Rome leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh and Rome are level on 58.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Rome 58: Rome leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Rome 92: Rome leads by 58 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Rome 50: Rome leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Rome 60: Rome leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Rome 72: Rome leads by 26 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Rome 38: Phnom Penh leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Rome 68: Rome leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Rome 40: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Rome.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Rome
Best match
64match

Wins on day trips 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.

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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhRome

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhRome
Official languageKhmerItalian
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118112
Elevation11 m21 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhRome
City population2,129,3712,748,109
People per km²3,1382,135
Museums within 10 km3178
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km17
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Phnom Penh or Rome 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.