VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

San Jose, Costa Rica 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 San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.

Choose Siem Reap for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • wellness

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. San Jose, Costa Rica 12, Siem Reap 5: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 50 points.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica 40, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Siem Reap 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 38 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Siem Reap 35: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 9 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica and Siem Reap are level on 30.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 2 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Siem Reap 32: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

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.

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
13 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

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. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaSiem Reap
Official languageSpanishKhmer
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)Riel (KHR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+7
Emergency number911Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation1,161 m18 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaSiem Reap
City population335,007147,866
People per km²7,511-
Museums within 10 km96
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 San Jose, Costa Rica 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.