VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Marrakech?

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

  • families
  • getting around
  • prices

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

Choose Marrakech for

  • shopping
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Marrakech’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, Marrakech 7: Luang Prabang leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Marrakech 64: Marrakech leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Marrakech 76: Marrakech leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Marrakech 33: Marrakech leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Marrakech 70: Marrakech leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Marrakech 28: Luang Prabang leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Marrakech 25: Luang Prabang leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Marrakech 38: Luang Prabang leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Marrakech 72: Marrakech leads by 34 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Marrakech 72: Luang Prabang leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Marrakech 25: Marrakech leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Marrakech 75: Marrakech leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Marrakech.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on families and getting around with your weighting.

Marrakech
Best match
49match

Wins on shopping and nightlife 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
13 hdaylight a day

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangMarrakech

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangMarrakech
Official languageLaoArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation305 m465 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangMarrakech
City population53,7921,002,697
People per km²-4,360
Museums within 10 km014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Luang Prabang or Marrakech 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.