VacationSelector
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Izmir 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 Izmir for

  • nightlife
  • day trips
  • beaches

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • 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. Izmir 62, Luang Prabang 14: Izmir leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Izmir 72, Luang Prabang 42: Izmir leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Izmir 55, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Izmir 60, Luang Prabang 8: Izmir leads by 52 points.
Nature & outdoors. Izmir 66, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Izmir 86, Luang Prabang 35: Izmir leads by 51 points.
Good for families. Izmir 55, Luang Prabang 38: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Izmir 63, Luang Prabang 50: Izmir leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Izmir 55, Luang Prabang 38: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Izmir 66, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Izmir 48, Luang Prabang 18: Izmir leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Izmir 57, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Izmir and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife and day trips with your weighting.

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 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
IzmirLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureIzmirLuang Prabang
Official languageTurkishLao
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation2 m305 m
Main airportAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureIzmirLuang Prabang
City population4,493,24253,792
People per km²4,760-
Museums within 10 km290
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

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