Talk to our local expert directly

Highlights Of Laos

5 DAY(S) Classic Tours

Vientiane - Luang Prabang

Description

This tour takes you to see famous, sacred and beautiful places in the land of friendly locals, lush forests and deep spirituality of the two big cities in Laos. Starting from Vientiane - a charming and fascinating capital, with an interesting mix of Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Soviet and American influences to contemplating the charming town of Luang Prabang and its suburb with many famous sites and original villages.

Highlights

  • Visiting various attractions in Vientiane the Capital
  • Explore Luang Prabang - considered as the best-preserved traditional city in Southeast Asia
  • Visit Khouang Si waterfall - the most beautiful waterfall in Luang Prabang.
  • Mingle with local life in an unspoiled nature and get to know their handicraft making

Itinerary

On arrival, pick up by our local tour guide at Wattay airport and transfer to check in hotel. Standard check in time is 14h00, early check in upon availability. This afternoon, we start the city tour from Wat Sisaket, the city's oldest temple. Dates back to 1818, Wat Sisaket is the most important heritage temple now standing in Laos. It houses thousands of Buddha images from many countries, long lost architectural styles, sculptures and paintings. Continue to visit Wat Prakeo, former royal temple of the Lao monarchy and originally built in 1565, and home to the Emerald Buddha image. Buddhist sculptures are displayed along the perimeter wall, including a 6th to 9th century Dvaravati-style stone Buddha and several standing and sitting Buddhas. On the way to the famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, stop to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, Vientiane's own Arc de Triumph. We then enjoy sunset by a boat trip on the Mekong River. Overnight in Vientiane.
Please note: Standard check in time is 14:00. Early check in is subject to availability of the hotel

After breakfast and check out hotel, visit the Buddha Park where hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures brought from India are displayed. After the visit, transfer to the airport for flight to Luang Prabang. On arrival, pick up by our local tour guide at the airport and transfer to check in hotel. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

After breakfast, we discover Luang Prabang from the National Museum at the former Royal Palace. The museum displays a lovely collection of the artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture dating from the days of the early kings right through the last sovereign. Take a walk from here crossing by many beautiful temples and traditional houses until we reach the magnificent Wat Xiengthong, with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, representing the classical Laotian architecture.
This afternoon, we board a cruise trip to visit the mysterious Pak Ou Caves. Enjoy the panoramic view of the tranquil countryside as we cruise upstream the Mekong River. Along the way, we stop to visit Ban Xang Hai village where rice wine is distilled. On arrival, we visit two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims. On the cruise trip back to Luang Prabang, we visit Ban Xang Khong, a village well known for silk hand-weaving and traditional Saa paper-making. 
We end the day by walking up Phousi Hill - the 328 steps lead to the summit and provides the finest panoramic sunset view. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

An optional early start will give us the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning rituals of saffron-clad monks collecting offerings of Alms (ubiquitous sticky rice) from the faithful residents. This tradition is very unique in Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the procession. Continue to visit the Morning Market, where we will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe weavings.
We then return to the hotel for breakfast and a short rest before we visit Wat Visoun, the holiest temple of the city, which was entirely rebuilt in 1887 after being destroyed by the invading Black Flags from Southern China. In the courtyard of Wat Visoun stands the Watermelon Stupa shaped like the fruit from which it takes its name. Continue visit to The Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre - the first exhibition space and fair trade store dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, and presentation of Laos’ traditional arts and lifestyles.
This afternoon, we transfer to visit Khouang Si waterfall. On the way, stop to visit Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ouay Village, Ban Ou village and Ban Thapene Village. On arrival at the waterfalls, take a leisure trek through the national park, passing by the Asian bear rescue center and many smaller waterfalls. Swimming in the cool and turquoise water is possible. Return to Luang Prabang and relax for the rest of the day. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

After breakfast, at leisure until check out hotel and transfer to the airport for the departure flight. Standard hotel check-out time is 12h00 (late check out upon availability). 

Inclusion

  • English-speaking tour guides
  • Land transportation by air-con vehicles
  • Accommodation based on Twin-shared room with breakfast
  • Meals as mentioned in the program (no drinks)
  • Boat trips and admissions as mentioned in the program
  • Drinking water during the touring day (2 bottles/person/day)

Exclusion

  • Airfare (international and domestic) and airport tax
  • Visa services (Visa approval letter/Visa stamp fee/ Visa fast track)
  • Early check-in/late check-out/ room upgrade surcharge
  • Other meals, Drinks, and personal expenses (phone call, laundry, tipping etc.)
  • Any services not mentioned in the program
  • Optional Tours

Hotels list(for details, please click on each hotel name below)

# Destination Standard / Superior Deluxe Luxury
1 Luang Prabang Chitchareune Muangluang Hotel
2 Vientiane Vientiane Plaza Hotel
 

Reviews

Filter by review:

Five Star 100%

Four Star 0%

Three Star 0%

Two Star 0%

One Star 0%

Loved the main temple

Andrew Dyne

I like this place so much. specially the main temple. the temple looks so lux and full of history and culture. even the entrance ticket little bit expensive but I think this place must be your bucket list if you visit Bangkok. Come around 10am in middle of September and the weather is so hot. but the clear blue sky made my pictures looks so gorgeous!

Natural wonder

Hinshaw

45 minutes away, this waterfall should not be missed. Take your bathing suit along, the water is so clean and refreshing. Wonderful flora and fauna

Good discovery

Kristin

A very enjoyable half day trip to Pak ou caves. The 2 hours boat trip from Luang Prabang gives a good experience of the life style and scenery along the Mekong bank. It is recommended to take a shared boat from the long boat office (65k kip/person), leaving 8.30am The 40 minute upper and lower cave visit was interesting. The place was not too busy :)

Impressive park.

Richard Sexton

We went by local bus from Vientiane busstation. Bus 14, just get on and you pay during the ride (8000 Kip per person = 0,80 euro, one way) . The ride is about 40 minutes. The park entrance is directly near the road. There building a new entrance that can 't be missed. Park entrance is 15.000 Kip per person (1,50 euro). The park is full of buddhas and other statues from hindu and buddhisme. It's is interesting and fun to see all the different statues. The big watermelon shaped building is quiet adventurous to get in and climb over 4 stages to the top outside. Then there is a nice overview over the park. At the end of the park there are flowerbeds and there still extending the park with new sites.

Great walk and stunning clear water

Mike Meuser

This is a 45 minute drive from Luang Prabang. First you pass tue rescued bears sanctuary then onto the falls. There are many shallow pools and smaller waterfalls, keep going until you reach the main falls which is 60 meters high. There is a well built wooden bridge which is great of photos. You can also take the stairs up to the top and back down, my guide advised it was slippery and stairs don’t last for long then it turns to a track. If you don’t go up the top the is a road back from the main waterfall but recommend you go back via the river again, as nothing to see on the road.

2,5 hours boat drive from Luang Prabang

Jasmine

A great excursion on Mekong River including observation to the local life in villages, cows bathing in the river, Chinese railway construction etc. At the place there is a lower and upper cave to visit. The lower one requires a small physical effort to climb up and it is very interesting. For the upper cave, climbing on 220 additional steps is required but the impressions are worth it.

Amazing place

Tomar and Maria

The Buddha is right on the outskirts of the city but I enjoyed the trip out there. It's interesting to see other parts of Vientiane. It's most certainly worth going out there to see. Personally, this was the best thing I did while visiting Vientiane. You can haggle with a tuk tuk driver. A lot of them will try and charge you crazy prices though so it's worth shopping around. I believe you can also take a public bus for much cheaper although it's a lot slower. The park itself is the work of an artist. Even though a lot of the statues look hundreds of years old they were made in the 50s, I think. It's packed with strange Buddhas. Some are huge. There's a structure you can enter and climb around in. felt like Indian Jones. The view from the top is great. The grounds itself are really pleasant to walk around. There's many beautiful flowers and plants. There's a small place inside the sells drinks, ice-cream and snacks. It's pretty expensive but if you like you can do. It's not a huge place but I managed.to spend at least 2 hours exploring and maybe more. I took my time though. Highly recommend if you're into something a bit different and a little bit strange.

What a magic area

Francisco Porcel Moner

We hiked here having a private guide. A lot of people drive to the park right, our choice was unique. It was a remarkably beautiful hike to arrive there via the country side. We enjoyed fresh local sugar and fruits cane. We marveled at hometown aqueducts which fueled a number of local villages. The falls themselves had been extremely gorgeous and well worth the hike. The falls had been amazing but is simply the start as you are able to hike and stay within the river downstream and also watch cascading pool after pool. Several of them wide open for swimming, but most beautiful and picture worthy. But there are public restrooms out there, but are normal no frills type of issue. Overall highly recommended and carry plan or food to eat local as you can get a number of shanty style restaurants available.

Valuable trip!

E Binz

 

Words and photos can’t really do it justice. I would recommend you arrive early as we got there at 9am and had it to ourselves for a little while. Also make sure you climb up to the very top (steps on the left) as there is another pool up there with a rope swin

Spectacular falls during the rainy season

Maria And Anders Drangel

Beautiful blue water and falls , after falls as you walk up the hill. There were nice places for swimming along the way and places for picnics. Even beautiful during a downpour.

Great place

Yeny Lukito

I loved this place, so many Buddha! It’s a great place to wander around, lots of flowers which attracted lots of beautiful butterflies. It’s not very big but there was space to wander without being on top of each other. It cost 15,000 kip each to get in and there were plenty of places to sit in the shade. The top of the pumpkin was a bit scary and the steps going up were steep and narrow. Definitely worth a visit. The cheapest way to get there is to rent a bike, 70,000, apparently tuktuks were asking upwards of 200,000 so we didn’t bother. Lots of lovely temples along the way to look at too.

Wonderful half-day trip from Luang Prabang

Maria Issabela Thompson

Start at 9 am in luang prabang on one of the many longboats (65000 kips). The boat trib of 1.5 hours is already worth the money. The boats stop first in a souvenir shop Village and continue to the caves where you have 40 min. Die upper cave is a long staircase climb. I prefer by much the lover one with is called the tousand Buddha cave and full of statues. A magical place not only for buddhists.

 
 

Why book with us?

Personal Travel Specialist

Dedicated travel specialist

Handpicked Accommodation

Best location & price

Flexible Meal Plan

Tickle your taste buds

Private Guide and Car

Hassle-free tour experience

Responsive Customer Service

24/7 care
View more >>
 
from 530 $