VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or San Sebastian?

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
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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 Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, San Sebastian 52: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, San Sebastian 44: Phnom Penh leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 44 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 46 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, San Sebastian 66: San Sebastian leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, San Sebastian 40: Phnom Penh leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, San Sebastian 32: Phnom Penh leads by 54 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, San Sebastian 45: San Sebastian leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh and San Sebastian are level on 50.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

San Sebastian
Best match
60match

Wins on beaches 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
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer 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 Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSan Sebastian
Official languageKhmerSpanish
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118112
Elevation11 m6 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSan Sebastian
City population2,129,371189,866
People per km²3,1383,118
Museums within 10 km314
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

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