VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
Santo Domingo church behind agaves, Oaxaca
OaxacaSanto Domingo church behind agaves

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Oaxaca by Öskr Rck, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Oaxaca?

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

  • wellness
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Oaxaca for

  • food and drink
  • nightlife
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Oaxaca’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, Oaxaca 5: Luang Prabang leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Oaxaca 84: Oaxaca leads by 42 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Oaxaca 74: Oaxaca leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Oaxaca 40: Oaxaca leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Oaxaca 62: Luang Prabang leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Oaxaca 65: Oaxaca leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Oaxaca 40: Oaxaca leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Oaxaca 55: Oaxaca leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Oaxaca 62: Oaxaca leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Oaxaca 77: Luang Prabang leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Oaxaca 38: Oaxaca leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Oaxaca 50: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Oaxaca.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on wellness and beaches with your weighting.

Oaxaca
Best match
54match

Wins on food and drink 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

Oaxaca in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangOaxaca

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Oaxaca: 1961-1990 normals, Oaxaca, Oax. (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangOaxaca
Official languageLaoSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190911
Elevation305 m1,555 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsXoxocotlán International Airport (OAX)7 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangOaxaca
City population53,792258,913
People per km²-3,028
Museums within 10 km010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Luang Prabang or Oaxaca 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). 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.