VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Shanghai?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Shanghai 25: Phnom Penh leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 56 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 48 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 50 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 36 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Shanghai 55: Phnom Penh leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 34 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on day trips and getting around 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

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhShanghai
Official languageKhmerPutonghua
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation11 m4 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhShanghai
City population2,129,37124,870,895
People per km²3,1383,922
Museums within 10 km345
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Shanghai 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.