🇰🇭 Cambodia or 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Which one, honestly
Cambodia leads on value for money, food and cities. Costa Rica leads on nature and the sea.
A normal day costs about $70 in Cambodia and $130 in Costa Rica.
Side by side
- 🇰🇭 Cambodia🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- Jan, Feb, Nov, DecBest monthsJan, Feb, Mar, Dec
- $70A normal day$130
- 1h 10m from BangkokClosest hub2h 55m from Mexico City
- GoodBeaches and seaVery good
- GoodCities and cultureNot the draw
- Very goodFoodGood
- Very goodNature and hikingExceptional
- ExceptionalValue for moneyNot the draw
- GoodEasy to get aroundGood
- Tuk tuks in town, buses and cheap flights between citiesGetting aroundA hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slow
- March to May, when Angkor is punishing by nine in the morningWhen to avoidSeptember and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the year
Pick by what you want
🇰🇭 Choose Cambodia if
you want the most impressive ruin in Asia, and a country that is still cheap and still quiet once you leave it.
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
Full Cambodia guide →Full Costa Rica guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.