VacationSelector
The floating torii of Itsukushima at Miyajima, Hiroshima
HiroshimaThe floating torii of Itsukushima at Miyajima
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Hiroshima by Guohua Song, Pexels License; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Hiroshima 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 Hiroshima for

  • day trips
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • 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. Hiroshima 30, Luang Prabang 14: Hiroshima leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Hiroshima 66, Luang Prabang 42: Hiroshima leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Hiroshima 60, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Hiroshima 45, Luang Prabang 8: Hiroshima leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hiroshima 62, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Hiroshima 80, Luang Prabang 35: Hiroshima leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Hiroshima 60, Luang Prabang 38: Hiroshima leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Hiroshima 74, Luang Prabang 50: Hiroshima leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Hiroshima 52, Luang Prabang 38: Hiroshima leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Hiroshima 58, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hiroshima 38, Luang Prabang 18: Hiroshima leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hiroshima 50, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hiroshima and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Hiroshima
Best match
56match

Wins on day trips 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.

Hiroshima in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
299 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
14 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
HiroshimaLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hiroshima: 1991-2020 normals, Hiroshima (1.7 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHiroshimaLuang Prabang
Official languageJapaneseLao
CurrencyYen (JPY)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation3 m305 m
Main airportHiroshima Airport (HIJ)43 km from centre10 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days-

By the numbers

MeasureHiroshimaLuang Prabang
City population1,198,02153,792
People per km²1,324-
Museums within 10 km180
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hiroshima or Luang Prabang somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). 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.