VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Luang Prabang or Manila?

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 Luang Prabang for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose Manila for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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. Luang Prabang 14, Manila 12: Luang Prabang leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Manila 64: Manila leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Manila 54: Luang Prabang leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Manila 64: Manila leads by 56 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Manila 40: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Manila 42: Manila leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Manila 42: Manila leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Manila 26: Luang Prabang leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Manila 60: Manila leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Manila 77: Luang Prabang leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Manila 50: Manila leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Manila 40: Luang Prabang leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Manila.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

Manila
Best match
48match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangManila
Official languageLaoEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190911
Elevation305 m9 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-18 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangManila
City population53,7921,902,590
People per km²-76,104
Museums within 10 km027
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Luang Prabang or Manila 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.