VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Varanasi?

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

  • nightlife
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Varanasi for

  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’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, Varanasi 4: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Varanasi 55: Phnom Penh leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Varanasi 10: Phnom Penh leads by 48 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Varanasi 18: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Varanasi 42: Varanasi leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Varanasi 5: Phnom Penh leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Varanasi 28: Phnom Penh leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Varanasi 92: Varanasi leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Varanasi 30: Phnom Penh leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Varanasi.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
Best match
44match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

Varanasi
40match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights 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

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhVaranasi

Where the figures come from

Varanasi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Varanasi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhVaranasi
Official languageKhmerHindi, English
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+5:30
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118108 or 112
Elevation11 m76 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhVaranasi
City population2,129,3711,198,491
People per km²3,13814,598
Museums within 10 km32
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 Varanasi 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.