VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Shanghai?

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
  • prices
  • wellness

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • nightlife
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Luang Prabang leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 72 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Shanghai 25: Luang Prabang leads by 43 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 55 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 44 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Shanghai 55: Luang Prabang leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Shanghai 55: Luang Prabang leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
43match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and day trips 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

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangShanghai
Official languageLaoPutonghua
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation305 m4 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangShanghai
City population53,79224,870,895
People per km²-3,922
Museums within 10 km045
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

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