VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cologne 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 Cologne for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Cologne’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. Cologne and Luang Prabang are level on 14.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Luang Prabang 42: Cologne leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Luang Prabang 65: Cologne leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Luang Prabang 8: Cologne leads by 58 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Luang Prabang 35: Cologne leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Luang Prabang 38: Cologne leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Luang Prabang 50: Cologne leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Luang Prabang 38: Cologne leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Luang Prabang 18: Cologne leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

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.

Cologne in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
81 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 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
CologneLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneLuang Prabang
Official languageGermanLao
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
Elevation59 m305 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureCologneLuang Prabang
City population1,025,52353,792
People per km²2,532-
Museums within 10 km400
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31

Where else could you go?

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