VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Luang Prabang or Seattle?

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
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Seattle for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’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, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Seattle 50: Luang Prabang leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 47 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Seattle 64: Seattle leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Seattle 60: Seattle leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Seattle 52: Seattle leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Seattle 22: Luang Prabang leads by 58 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 52 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Seattle 40: Luang Prabang leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Seattle.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Seattle
Best match
54match

Wins on live music and the arts 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

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangSeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangSeattle
Official languageLao-
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190911
Elevation305 m40 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangSeattle
City population53,792737,015
People per km²-1,996
Museums within 10 km027
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Seattle 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.