VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cusco 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 Cusco for

  • day trips
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • families
  • wellness
  • beaches

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. Cusco 3, Luang Prabang 14: Luang Prabang leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Luang Prabang 42: Cusco leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Luang Prabang 65: Cusco leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Luang Prabang 8: Cusco leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Luang Prabang 68: Cusco leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Luang Prabang 35: Cusco leads by 43 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Luang Prabang 38: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Luang Prabang 50: Luang Prabang leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Luang Prabang 38: Cusco leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Luang Prabang 18: Cusco leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 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: Cusco and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Cusco
Best match
49match

Wins on day trips and nightlife with your weighting.

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on families 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.

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 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
CuscoLuang Prabang

Where the figures come from

Cusco's station stands 151 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoLuang Prabang
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaLao
CurrencySol (PEN)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+7
Emergency number111 or 911Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation3,399 m305 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoLuang Prabang
City population428,45053,792
Museums within 10 km110
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

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