VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Santa Marta?

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

  • culture and sights
  • wellness
  • getting around

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Santa Marta 44: Santa Marta leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Santa Marta 34: Luang Prabang leads by 31 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 42 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Santa Marta 40: Santa Marta leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Santa Marta 38: Luang Prabang leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Santa Marta 27: Luang Prabang leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang and Santa Marta are level on 80.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Santa Marta 17: Luang Prabang leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Santa Marta 30: Luang Prabang leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on culture and sights and wellness with your weighting.

Santa Marta
Best match
46match

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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangSanta Marta
Official languageLaoSpanish
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190123
Elevation305 m8 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-19 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangSanta Marta
City population53,792505,915
People per km²-1,723
Museums within 10 km03
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Santa Marta 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.