VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Phnom Penh or Xi'an?

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
  • wellness
  • prices

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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, Xi'an 4: Phnom Penh leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Xi'an 42: Phnom Penh leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Xi'an 62: Xi'an leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 46 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Xi'an 48: Xi'an leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Xi'an 50: Xi'an leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Xi'an 80: Phnom Penh leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Xi'an 40: Phnom Penh leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on nightlife and wellness with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors 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

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhXi'an
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 m405 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhXi'an
City population2,129,37112,952,907
People per km²3,1381,283
Museums within 10 km39
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

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