VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
Erasmus Bridge and the skyline, Rotterdam
RotterdamErasmus Bridge and the skyline

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Rotterdam by Bas Geerlings, Pexels License.

Luang Prabang or Rotterdam?

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

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

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

Choose Rotterdam for

  • day trips
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Rotterdam’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, Rotterdam 27: Rotterdam leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Rotterdam 52: Rotterdam leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Rotterdam 58: Luang Prabang leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Rotterdam 52: Rotterdam leads by 44 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Rotterdam 44: Luang Prabang leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Rotterdam 85: Rotterdam leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Rotterdam 66: Rotterdam leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Rotterdam 78: Rotterdam leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Rotterdam 55: Rotterdam leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Rotterdam 38: Luang Prabang leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Rotterdam 58: Rotterdam leads by 40 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Rotterdam 42: Luang Prabang leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Rotterdam.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Rotterdam
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips 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
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Rotterdam in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangRotterdam

Where the figures come from

Rotterdam has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Rotterdam's sunshine is measured 52 km from the centre, at De Bilt.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Rotterdam: 1993-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Rotterdam Airport Zestienhoven (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangRotterdam
Official languageLaoDutch
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190112
Elevation305 m10 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsRotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)5 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangRotterdam
City population53,792664,311
People per km²-2,080
Museums within 10 km040
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Luang Prabang or Rotterdam 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.