VacationSelector
The wharf at Queenstown with the Remarkables behind, Queenstown
QueenstownThe wharf at Queenstown with the Remarkables behind
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Queenstown by Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Queenstown 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 Queenstown for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • beaches

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

Choose Siem Reap for

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

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. Queenstown 20, Siem Reap 5: Queenstown leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Queenstown and Siem Reap are level on 45.
Culture & sights. Queenstown 12, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 76 points.
Nightlife. Queenstown and Siem Reap are level on 42.
Nature & outdoors. Queenstown 97, Siem Reap 40: Queenstown leads by 57 points.
Day trips. Queenstown 50, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Queenstown 60, Siem Reap 35: Queenstown leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Queenstown 45, Siem Reap 30: Queenstown leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Queenstown 28, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Queenstown 20, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 68 points.
Live music & performing arts. Queenstown 14, Siem Reap 32: Siem Reap leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Queenstown 42, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 18 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Queenstown and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Queenstown
40match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families 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.

Queenstown in July

6 °Cdaytime high
-1 °Cnight-time low
115 mmrain in the month
9 hdaylight a day

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
QueenstownSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Queenstown 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.

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. Queenstown: 1991-2020 normals, TerraClimate 4 km grid at the town, no weather station within 90 km. Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureQueenstownSiem Reap
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriKhmer
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Riel (KHR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number111Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation324 m18 m
Main airportQueenstown Airport (ZQN)7 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureQueenstownSiem Reap
City population29,000147,866
Museums within 10 km06
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Queenstown or Siem Reap somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.