VacationSelector
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
SofiaThe Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Photos: Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License; Sofia by Jose Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Siem Reap or Sofia?

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 Siem Reap for

  • culture and sights
  • wellness
  • prices

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

Choose Sofia for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Sofia’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. Siem Reap and Sofia are level on 5.
Food & drink. Siem Reap and Sofia are level on 45.
Culture & sights. Siem Reap 88, Sofia 60: Siem Reap leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Siem Reap 42, Sofia 50: Sofia leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Siem Reap 40, Sofia 80: Sofia leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Siem Reap 55, Sofia 60: Sofia leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Siem Reap 35, Sofia 40: Sofia leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Siem Reap 30, Sofia 65: Sofia leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Siem Reap and Sofia are level on 38.
Affordability. Siem Reap 88, Sofia 78: Siem Reap leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Siem Reap 32, Sofia 50: Sofia leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Siem Reap 60, Sofia 45: Siem Reap leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Siem Reap and Sofia.

Your match

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

Siem Reap
47match

Wins on culture and sights and wellness with your weighting.

Sofia
Best match
51match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Siem Reap in July

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

Sofia in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
64 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Siem ReapSofia

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. Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Sofia: 1991-2020 normals, Sofia Observ. (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSiem ReapSofia
Official languageKhmerBulgarian
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118112
Elevation18 m560 m
Main airportSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinationsSofia Airport (SOF)8 km from centre97 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureSiem ReapSofia
City population147,8661,213,134
People per km²-2,466
Museums within 10 km642
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 Siem Reap or Sofia somewhere new.

Browse every destination

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). 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. Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.