VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Salvador?

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

  • wellness
  • prices
  • shopping

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

Choose Salvador for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 78 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Salvador 66: Salvador leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Salvador 74: Salvador leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Salvador 52: Salvador leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Salvador 56: Salvador leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Salvador 42: Phnom Penh leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Salvador 70: Phnom Penh leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Salvador 63: Salvador leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Salvador 32: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Salvador.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Salvador
Best match
58match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts 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

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSalvador

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSalvador
Official languageKhmerPortuguese
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation11 m8 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSalvador
City population2,129,3712,417,678
People per km²3,1383,489
Museums within 10 km349
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Phnom Penh or Salvador 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.