VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Phnom Penh or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Phnom Penh leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Phnom Penh leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 50 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Phnom Penh leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Phnom Penh leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Phnom Penh leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
Best match
44match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips 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
13 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageKhmerSpanish
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118911
Elevation11 m1,161 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population2,129,371335,007
People per km²3,1387,511
Museums within 10 km39
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Phnom Penh or San Jose, Costa Rica 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. 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.