VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or San Sebastian?

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
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 54 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, San Sebastian 52: Luang Prabang leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, San Sebastian 44: San Sebastian leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, San Sebastian 66: San Sebastian leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, San Sebastian 40: San Sebastian leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, San Sebastian 32: Luang Prabang leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, San Sebastian 45: San Sebastian leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, San Sebastian 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 San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Sebastian
Best match
60match

Wins on beaches and food and drink 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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangSan Sebastian
Official languageLaoSpanish
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 m6 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangSan Sebastian
City population53,792189,866
People per km²-3,118
Museums within 10 km014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

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