VacationSelector
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles
Los AngelesThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple

Photos: Los Angeles by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • beaches

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

Choose Luang Prabang for

  • prices
  • getting around

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. Los Angeles 60, Luang Prabang 14: Los Angeles leads by 46 points.
Food & drink. Los Angeles 84, Luang Prabang 42: Los Angeles leads by 42 points.
Culture & sights. Los Angeles 66, Luang Prabang 65: Los Angeles leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Los Angeles 67, Luang Prabang 8: Los Angeles leads by 59 points.
Nature & outdoors. Los Angeles 80, Luang Prabang 68: Los Angeles leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Los Angeles 60, Luang Prabang 35: Los Angeles leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Los Angeles 84, Luang Prabang 38: Los Angeles leads by 46 points.
Getting around. Los Angeles 25, Luang Prabang 50: Luang Prabang leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Los Angeles 80, Luang Prabang 38: Los Angeles leads by 42 points.
Affordability. Los Angeles 24, Luang Prabang 80: Luang Prabang leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Los Angeles 83, Luang Prabang 18: Los Angeles leads by 65 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Los Angeles and Luang Prabang are level on 60.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Los Angeles and Luang Prabang.

Your match

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

Los Angeles
Best match
64match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices 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.

Los Angeles in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °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
Los AngelesLuang Prabang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Los Angeles: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (18.5 km from centre). Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLos AngelesLuang Prabang
Official language-Lao
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Lao Kip (LAK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABCEF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911Police 191, ambulance 195, fire 190
Elevation106 m305 m
Main airportLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)19 km from centre177 non-stop destinationsLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureLos AngelesLuang Prabang
City population3,898,74753,792
People per km²2,994-
Museums within 10 km390
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Los Angeles 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). 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.