VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
SofiaThe Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Sofia by Jose Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Sofia?

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

  • food and drink
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Sofia for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Sofia’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, Sofia 5: Phnom Penh leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Sofia 45: Phnom Penh leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Sofia 60: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Sofia 50: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Sofia 80: Sofia leads by 52 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Sofia 60: Sofia leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Sofia 40: Sofia leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Sofia 65: Sofia leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Sofia 38: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Sofia 78: Phnom Penh leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Sofia 50: Sofia leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Sofia 45: Phnom Penh 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 Sofia.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on food and drink and nightlife with your weighting.

Sofia
Best match
51match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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
13 hdaylight a day

Sofia in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
64 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhSofia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Sofia: 1991-2020 normals, Sofia Observ. (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhSofia
Official languageKhmerBulgarian
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118112
Elevation11 m560 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsSofia Airport (SOF)8 km from centre97 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhSofia
City population2,129,3711,213,134
People per km²3,1382,466
Museums within 10 km342
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

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