VacationSelector
Bryggen across Vågen, Bergen
BergenBryggen across Vågen
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Bergen by Abdullah Guc, Pexels License; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bergen 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 Bergen for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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. Bergen 20, Luang Prabang 14: Bergen leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Bergen 47, Luang Prabang 42: Bergen leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Bergen 55, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Bergen 40, Luang Prabang 8: Bergen leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bergen 88, Luang Prabang 68: Bergen leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Bergen 38, Luang Prabang 35: Bergen leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Bergen 60, Luang Prabang 38: Bergen leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Bergen 74, Luang Prabang 50: Bergen leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Bergen 33, Luang Prabang 38: Luang Prabang leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Bergen 12, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 68 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bergen 58, Luang Prabang 18: Bergen leads by 40 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bergen 32, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bergen and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Bergen
Best match
46match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Bergen in July

20 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
159 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 °Csea
18 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
BergenLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bergen: 1991-2020 normals, Bergen / Florida (1.2 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBergenLuang Prabang
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, SámiLao
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation5 m305 m
Main airportBergen Airport, Flesland (BGO)12 km from centre64 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBergenLuang Prabang
City population291,18953,792
People per km²3,339-
Museums within 10 km310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bergen 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). 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.