VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bilbao 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 Bilbao for

  • nightlife
  • day trips
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Bilbao’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. Bilbao 45, Luang Prabang 14: Bilbao leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Luang Prabang 42: Bilbao leads by 39 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Luang Prabang 8: Bilbao leads by 46 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Luang Prabang 68: Bilbao leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Luang Prabang 35: Bilbao leads by 43 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Luang Prabang 38: Bilbao leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Luang Prabang 50: Bilbao leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Luang Prabang 38: Bilbao leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Luang Prabang 18: Bilbao leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on nightlife and day trips 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.

Bilbao in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
54 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 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
BilbaoLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoLuang Prabang
Official languageSpanishLao
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
Elevation19 m305 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoLuang Prabang
City population351,12453,792
People per km²8,440-
Museums within 10 km170
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

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