VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Salvador?

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
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Salvador for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 70 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Salvador 66: Salvador leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Salvador 74: Salvador leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 62 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Salvador 52: Luang Prabang leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Salvador 56: Salvador leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Salvador 42: Luang Prabang leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Salvador 70: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Salvador 63: Salvador leads by 45 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Salvador 32: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Salvador.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

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

Salvador
Best match
58match

Wins on beaches 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

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangSalvador

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangSalvador
Official languageLaoPortuguese
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation305 m8 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangSalvador
City population53,7922,417,678
People per km²-3,489
Museums within 10 km049
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 Salvador 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.