VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Luang Prabang or Samarkand?

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
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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, Samarkand 4: Luang Prabang leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Samarkand 14: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Samarkand 40: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Samarkand 30: Luang Prabang leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang and Samarkand are level on 80.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Samarkand 24: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Samarkand 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 Samarkand.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Luang Prabang
43match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights 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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangSamarkand
Official languageLaoUzbek
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190112
Elevation305 m702 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangSamarkand
City population53,792546,303
People per km²-5,058
Museums within 10 km011
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 Samarkand 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. 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.