VacationSelector
Wat Xieng Thong temple, Luang Prabang
Luang PrabangWat Xieng Thong temple
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Luang Prabang by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Luang Prabang or Valletta?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Valletta for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’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, Valletta 68: Valletta leads by 54 points.
Food & drink. Luang Prabang 42, Valletta 55: Valletta leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Luang Prabang 65, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Luang Prabang 8, Valletta 46: Valletta leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Luang Prabang 68, Valletta 56: Luang Prabang leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Luang Prabang 35, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Luang Prabang 38, Valletta 58: Valletta leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Luang Prabang 50, Valletta 62: Valletta leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Luang Prabang and Valletta are level on 38.
Affordability. Luang Prabang 80, Valletta 50: Luang Prabang leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Luang Prabang 18, Valletta 44: Valletta leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Luang Prabang 60, Valletta 32: Luang Prabang leads by 28 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Luang Prabang and Valletta.

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.

Valletta
Best match
55match

Wins on beaches 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

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Luang PrabangValletta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Luang Prabang: 1991-2020 normals, Luang-Prabang (0.8 km from centre). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLuang PrabangValletta
Official languageLaoEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyLao Kip (LAK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABCEF230 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 195, fire 190112
Elevation305 m56 m
Main airportLuang Phabang International Airport (LPQ)4 km from centre7 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureLuang PrabangValletta
City population53,7925,197
People per km²-6,496
Museums within 10 km016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

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