VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Puerto Iguazu or Siem Reap?

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 Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’s own page.

Choose Siem Reap for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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. Puerto Iguazu and Siem Reap are level on 5.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 79 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu 14, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, Siem Reap 40: Puerto Iguazu leads by 55 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, Siem Reap 35: Puerto Iguazu leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, Siem Reap 30: Puerto Iguazu leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, Siem Reap 32: Siem Reap leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 26 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Puerto Iguazu and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

Siem Reap
Best match
47match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Puerto IguazuSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Siem Reap 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. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuSiem Reap
Official languageSpanishKhmer
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC+7
Emergency number117 or 911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation162 m18 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuSiem Reap
City population54,903147,866
Museums within 10 km06
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 Puerto Iguazu or Siem Reap 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.