VacationSelector
The Texas State Capitol under a blue sky, Austin
AustinThe Texas State Capitol under a blue sky
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Austin by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Austin 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 Austin for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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. Austin 30, Luang Prabang 14: Austin leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Austin 66, Luang Prabang 42: Austin leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Austin 40, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Austin 65, Luang Prabang 8: Austin leads by 57 points.
Nature & outdoors. Austin 57, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Austin 58, Luang Prabang 35: Austin leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Austin 55, Luang Prabang 38: Austin leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Austin 30, Luang Prabang 50: Luang Prabang leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Austin 45, Luang Prabang 38: Austin leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Austin 33, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 47 points.
Live music & performing arts. Austin 77, Luang Prabang 18: Austin leads by 59 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Austin 40, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Austin and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Austin
Best match
50match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Austin in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
49 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Luang Prabang in July

33 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
250 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AustinLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Austin: 1991-2020 normals, Camp Mabry/Austin City Asos (3.7 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAustinLuang Prabang
Official language-Lao
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation149 m305 m
Main airportAustin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)13 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAustinLuang Prabang
City population961,85553,792
People per km²1,217-
Museums within 10 km210
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 Austin 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. 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.