VacationSelector
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Johannesburg by K, Pexels License; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Johannesburg 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 Johannesburg for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • getting around
  • 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. Johannesburg 5, Luang Prabang 14: Luang Prabang leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Johannesburg 58, Luang Prabang 42: Johannesburg leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Johannesburg 56, Luang Prabang 65: Luang Prabang leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Johannesburg 62, Luang Prabang 8: Johannesburg leads by 54 points.
Nature & outdoors. Johannesburg 55, Luang Prabang 68: Luang Prabang leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Johannesburg 52, Luang Prabang 35: Johannesburg leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Johannesburg 42, Luang Prabang 38: Johannesburg leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Johannesburg 18, Luang Prabang 50: Luang Prabang leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Johannesburg 58, Luang Prabang 38: Johannesburg leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Johannesburg 72, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Johannesburg 55, Luang Prabang 18: Johannesburg leads by 37 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Johannesburg 28, Luang Prabang 60: Luang Prabang leads by 32 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Johannesburg and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Johannesburg
Best match
47match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on getting around 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.

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine 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
JohannesburgLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJohannesburgLuang Prabang
Official languageEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign LanguageLao
CurrencyRand (ZAR)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsCMN230 V, 50 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+2UTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation1,753 m305 m
Main airportO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureJohannesburgLuang Prabang
City population4,803,26253,792
People per km²2,922-
Museums within 10 km140
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 Johannesburg 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.