VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
The Arctic Cathedral, Tromso
TromsoThe Arctic Cathedral

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Tromso by Moyan Brenn, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Luang Prabang or Tromso?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Tromso for

  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Tromso’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, Tromso 8: Luang Prabang leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Tromso 36: Luang Prabang leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Tromso 27: Luang Prabang leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Tromso 38: Tromso leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Tromso 92: Tromso leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Tromso 14: Luang Prabang leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Tromso 45: Tromso leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Tromso 60: Tromso leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang 38, Tromso 15: Luang Prabang leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Tromso 11: Luang Prabang leads by 69 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Tromso 32: Tromso leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Tromso 38: Luang Prabang leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Tromso.

Your match

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

Luang Prabang
Best match
43match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Tromso
35match

Wins on nightlife and nature and the outdoors 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

Tromso in July

16 °Cdaytime high
9 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
10 °Csea
24 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangTromso

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Tromso: 1991-2020 normals, Tromso (0.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangTromso
Official languageLaoNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Sámi
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Norwegian Krone (NOK)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190Police 112, ambulance 113, fire 110
Elevation305 m20 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsTromsø Airport (TOS)4 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangTromso
City population53,79279,943
People per km²-32
Museums within 10 km08
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 Tromso 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). 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.