VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
São Paulo Cathedral, Sao Paulo
Sao PauloSão Paulo Cathedral

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Sao Paulo?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Sao Paulo for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Sao Paulo’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, Sao Paulo 42: Sao Paulo leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Sao Paulo 84: Sao Paulo leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Sao Paulo 60: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Sao Paulo 86: Sao Paulo leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Sao Paulo 48: Sao Paulo leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Sao Paulo 47: Sao Paulo leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Sao Paulo 52: Sao Paulo leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Sao Paulo 44: Sao Paulo leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Sao Paulo 70: Sao Paulo leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Sao Paulo 62: Phnom Penh leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Sao Paulo 76: Sao Paulo leads by 44 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Sao Paulo 25: Phnom Penh leads by 25 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Sao Paulo.

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.

Sao Paulo
Best match
58match

Wins on live music and the arts 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
13 hdaylight a day

Sao Paulo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
53 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSao Paulo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSao Paulo
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 m760 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsSão Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSao Paulo
City population2,129,37111,451,999
People per km²3,1387,519
Museums within 10 km390
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 Sao Paulo 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. 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.