Photos: Ho Chi Minh City by trungydang, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Ho Chi Minh City 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 Ho Chi Minh City for
- nightlife
- food and drink
- day trips
What lies behind each score is written up on Ho Chi Minh City’s own page.
Choose Luang Prabang for
- nature and the outdoors
- getting around
- 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.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Ho Chi Minh City and Luang Prabang.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nightlife and food and drink with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Ho Chi Minh City in July
Luang Prabang in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Ho Chi Minh City 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.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Ho Chi Minh City: 1991-2020 normals, Ho Chi Minh (6 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Luang Prabang |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Vietnamese | Lao |
| Currency | Dong (VND) | Lao Kip (LAK) |
| Sockets | ACFG220 V, 50 Hz | ABCEF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+7 | UTC+7 |
| Emergency number | Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114 | Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190 |
| Elevation | 13 m | 305 m |
| Main airport | Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)7 km from centre90 non-stop destinations | Luang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations |
By the numbers
| Measure | Ho Chi Minh City | Luang Prabang |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 14,002,598 | 53,792 |
| People per km² | 2,068 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ho Chi Minh City or Luang Prabang somewhere new.