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Photo by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Luang Prabang in May
avoid · not the best time to go
The year in Luang Prabang
Tap a month for its page
- JanJLuang Prabang in January: good, busy
- FebFLuang Prabang in February: sweet spot, busy
- MarMLuang Prabang in March: avoid
- AprALuang Prabang in April: avoid
- MayMLuang Prabang in May: avoid
- JunJLuang Prabang in June: avoid
- JulJLuang Prabang in July: avoid
- AugALuang Prabang in August: avoid
- SepSLuang Prabang in September: avoid
- OctOLuang Prabang in October: ok
- NovNLuang Prabang in November: sweet spot
- DecDLuang Prabang in December: good, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
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The numbers
| Daily high | 34°C |
|---|---|
| Nightly low | 24°C |
| Feels like, afternoon | 39°C |
| Rainy days, 1 mm or more | 10 · 176 mm |
| Humidity | 77% |
| Sunshine | 10.1 h/day |
| Daylight | 13.1 h/day |
| Days over 35°C | 11 |
| Crowds | 100 / 100, higher is quieter |
Ten-year averages for this calendar month. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts it. The model these figures come from drizzles more than a rain gauge, the more so the warmer the month, so its days count from 2 mm, rising to 5 mm in the hottest.
Weather read at the old town: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
How busy it gets
Public holidays in May
Holidays crowd a place out and push fares up around them; they count toward the crowd score above.
Luang Prabang in pictures
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Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What to pack
- Light, loose clothes: daily highs average 34°C.
- A packable rain jacket for the 10 or so rainy days.
- Plan the middle of the day indoors: 11 days a month pass 35°C.
- Sun protection: about 10 hours of sunshine a day.
- Humidity averages 77%; breathable fabrics dry faster.
Each line is a threshold over the ten-year figures above, not advice from anywhere else.
Before you go
| Cost of living | very cheap — prices run about 23% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025) |
|---|---|
| Currency | Lao kip |
| Languages | Lao |
| Plugs | Type A and B and C and E and F, 230 V |
| Driving | On the right |
| Calling code | +856 |
| Travel advice | avoid all but essential travel to parts — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-08-13 Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories) — Global Affairs Canada, updated 2026-09-24 Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution — US State Department, updated 2026-07-28 |
| Health | UK Foreign Office health advice |
Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.Travel advice for American readers is the US State Department's (public domain), and for Canadian readers Global Affairs Canada's (Open Government Licence - Canada), each in its own words and written for its own citizens; entry rules depend on your passport.
On arrival in Luang Prabang: the apps, paying, getting around, tipping and the emergency numbers.
May elsewhere
In May from
The other months at Luang Prabang
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