VacationSelector
A canal bridge in autumn, Amsterdam
AmsterdamA canal bridge in autumn
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Amsterdam by Hans, Pexels License; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Amsterdam or Luang Prabang?

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 Amsterdam for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Luang Prabang’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. Amsterdam 25, Luang Prabang 14: Amsterdam leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Amsterdam 58, Luang Prabang 42: Amsterdam leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Amsterdam 82, Luang Prabang 65: Amsterdam leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Amsterdam 77, Luang Prabang 8: Amsterdam leads by 69 points.
Nature & outdoors. Amsterdam 47, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Amsterdam 87, Luang Prabang 35: Amsterdam leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Amsterdam 72, Luang Prabang 38: Amsterdam leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Amsterdam 86, Luang Prabang 50: Amsterdam leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Amsterdam 68, Luang Prabang 38: Amsterdam leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Amsterdam 22, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 58 points.
Live music & performing arts. Amsterdam 78, Luang Prabang 18: Amsterdam leads by 60 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Amsterdam 42, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Amsterdam and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Amsterdam
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Amsterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
84 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Luang Prabang in July

33 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
250 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AmsterdamLuang Prabang

Where the figures come from

Amsterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Amsterdam's sunshine is measured 35 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Amsterdam: 1991-2020 normals, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (12 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAmsterdamLuang Prabang
Official languageDutchLao
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation-2 m305 m
Main airportAmsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)12 km from centre287 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAmsterdamLuang Prabang
City population921,46853,792
People per km²4,208-
Museums within 10 km1010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km51
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Amsterdam or Luang Prabang 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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.