VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

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

Gdansk 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 Gdansk for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Gdansk 40, Luang Prabang 14: Gdansk leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Luang Prabang 42: Gdansk leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Luang Prabang 65: Gdansk leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Luang Prabang 8: Gdansk leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Luang Prabang 35: Gdansk leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Luang Prabang 38: Gdansk leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Luang Prabang 50: Gdansk leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Luang Prabang 38: Gdansk leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Luang Prabang 18: Gdansk leads by 34 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Gdansk and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Gdansk
Best match
55match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Gdansk in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
17 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
GdanskLuang Prabang

Where the figures come from

Gdansk has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Gdansk's sunshine is measured 55 km from the centre, at Elblag.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Gdansk: 1991-2020 normals, Gdansk-Rebiechowo (12.7 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskLuang Prabang
Official languagePolishLao
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsCE50 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation11 m305 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskLuang Prabang
City population487,83453,792
People per km²714-
Museums within 10 km340
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

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