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Are you planning a visit to South-East Asia and contemplating visiting Laos (in all probability mixed with a visit to Thailand or Vietnam)? Don’t fear, we’ve received you coated. On this article, I’ll share our itinerary for five days in Laos, visiting Vientiane and Luang Prabang!
In fact, you want at the very least a few weeks to see all Laos has to supply. However realistically, until you’re backpacking in South-East Asia or are working remotely with a really relaxed schedule, you gained’t have the ability to spend weeks in every nation. If you happen to solely have 25 days of annual go away, simply as we do, you must be savvy, mix a number of nations in a single journey, and attempt to see a few of the essential highlights inside a really restricted timeframe.
Right here’s a really temporary overview of our itinerary for five days in Laos:
Day 1: Attending to Vientiane and exploring town, an evening at S2 Trendy Boutique Lodge
Day 2: Flying or taking a prepare to Luang Prabang, 2 nights at The Belle Rive Resort
Days 3-4: Having fun with Luang Prabang, a day journey to the waterfalls & rice farm
Day 5: Exploring the remainder of Luang Prabang, flying again
Earlier than we begin with the detailed itinerary, listed below are some regularly requested questions on Laos.
Issues to know earlier than travelling to Laos
Is Laos secure? How secure is it to journey round Laos?
If you happen to’re questioning whether or not Laos is secure, I’d say that essentially the most touristy cities and cities are secure! At no level throughout our journey did we really feel unsafe or really feel that there was a must lie about the place we stay or go away branded purses on the resort (that occurs in lots of locations, together with Jose’s hometown, Mexico Metropolis).
Individuals had been additionally very pleasant, and at no level, anybody tried to rip-off us and even inflate costs! Everyone was useful as properly. Travelling round Laos was a beautiful expertise and we hope to return sometime.
How you can get to Laos?
Laos doesn’t have one of the best transport connections on the earth, and it isn’t simple to fly there immediately from Europe or the Americas. That’s why most individuals mix visiting Laos with Vietnam or Thailand, as each Vietnam and Thailand have good flight connections with Laos. Flight costs aren’t low cost, although. You may examine the costs and availability right here >
There may be additionally a velocity prepare from China, nevertheless, it may be difficult to journey to China proper now (I ponder if they’ve resumed issuing journey visas).
Some individuals journey to Laos by ferry – there are excursions from Thailand, nevertheless, we don’t know a lot about this manner of travelling to Laos.
Are you able to pay by card in Laos? Are US {dollars} accepted?
One other regularly requested query about Laos is whether or not you may pay by card in Laos or pay by US {dollars}. Playing cards aren’t broadly accepted in Laos – only some resorts and only a few eating places settle for playing cards, each in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Nevertheless, there are ATMs you’ll find in main airports and in addition throughout Luang Prabang city centre (there are only some, however the city centre shouldn’t be too massive, both).
As for the US {dollars}, some distributors could select to just accept them, however some gained’t take them. It’s at all times good to depart a sum in {dollars} and the remainder commerce to the native foreign money; within the case of Laos, it’s kip.
How you can journey inside Laos? Travelling between Vientiane and Luang Prabang
Lastly, many individuals are questioning journey between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The space by land is sort of massive – until you might be on a really strict finances, I don’t advocate travelling by bus. There’s a velocity prepare that China constructed not too long ago and common flights between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The prepare station is sort of removed from Vientiane; getting there takes 45-60 minutes. As of the start of 2023, shopping for prepare tickets on-line was unimaginable. A ticket workplace within the centre of Vientiane didn’t settle for money or card, only a native fee app you may’t set up as a foreigner. Some individuals ask locals to purchase them tickets and provides them cash in money as an alternative. We additionally learn that some resorts should purchase prepare tickets for you as properly.
The issue is that the gross sales of prepare tickets begin solely 3 days prematurely and get offered out fairly shortly!
That’s why we opted for an inside flight. It’s the costliest choice (2 occasions dearer than the prepare), however at the very least you should buy tickets prematurely and it’s additionally quicker should you solely have a couple of days in Laos. The prepare takes round 4 hours, whereas the flight is round 45 minutes. The airport in Vientiane is tiny, so that you don’t want to return hours prematurely, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier than the flight is greater than sufficient.
We didn’t purchase return tickets as Luang Prabang additionally has worldwide flights. We flew from Hanoi to Vientiane and had a return flight from Luang Prabang again to Hanoi.
Learn our 7-day itinerary for Vietnam on this submit >>>
Okay, with out additional ado, let’s begin with the 5-day itinerary for Laos: Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
Our itinerary for Laos: Vientiane and Luang Prabang in 5 days
Day 1: Exploring Vientiane
Vientiane, the capital metropolis of Laos, is understood for its quiet and relaxed ambiance with little visitors, not like the bustling and vibrant metropolis of Hanoi in Vietnam (town we had flown to Laos from).
The place to remain in Vientiane
For our in a single day keep, we opted for the S2 Trendy Boutique Lodge, which was fairly priced however positioned fairly removed from most sights. Nonetheless, because of the metropolis’s appreciable distances between locations, it’s essential to depend on taxis no matter the place you might be staying.
Alternatively, these two resorts are nonetheless removed from the principle sights, however are nearer to town centre with numerous eating places and the night time market close by: Lao Orchid Lodge or Le Charme Vientiane Lodge.
Issues to do in Vientiane in sooner or later:
Vientiane, not like Luang Prabang, doesn’t have that many sights. It’s not a really touristy metropolis and many guests overlook Vientiane in favour of Luang Prabang. Nevertheless, I feel Vientiane is attention-grabbing, and we needed to see multiple place in Laos.
Listed below are a few of the greatest issues you are able to do in Vientiane in simply sooner or later (properly, sooner or later might be sufficient to see most of Vientiane anyway).
- Pha That Luang: a very powerful nationwide monument in Laos and an emblem of the nation’s Buddhist religion. It’s a surprising golden stupa and it’s believed to include a relic of the Buddha.
- Patuxai – a monument inbuilt honour of those that fought for independence from France and paradoxically, it seems a bit just like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It’s potential to climb to the highest for gorgeous metropolis views.
- Wat Si Saket: a lovely temple, which is likely one of the oldest in Vientiane and includes a gorgeous courtyard crammed with hundreds of Buddha statues.
- Buddha Park – an element that’s residence to greater than 200 Buddhist and Hindu statues, together with an enormous reclining Buddha.
Additionally, the night time market within the coronary heart of the outdated city, proper subsequent to Mekong is an thrilling market to go to, nevertheless, there isn’t a lot to purchase there until you’re in search of very inexpensive faux branded garments with misspelled logos. There are many locations to eat close by, in order that may be a bit extra attention-grabbing!
Days 2-5: Luang Prabang
On the morning of the subsequent day, we took a brief inside flight to Luang Prabang. I defined our causes for taking a aircraft reasonably than the prepare earlier on this article, however lengthy story brief, flight tickets had been the one tickets we might purchase prematurely and due to this fact assured our journey for this present day.
The place to remain in Luang Prabang?
We stayed on the Bel Air Resort with pretty river views, nevertheless, the placement wasn’t very best as a result of each time we wanted to go to the city centre, we needed to cross a bridge that was in shambles and on the verge of collapsing (The Outdated French Bridge).
As a substitute, I like to recommend staying on the following locations:
Luxurious choice: 3 Nagas
Mid-range resort: The Belle Rive
Inexpensive lodging: Villa Ouis
The very best issues to do in Luang Prabang in 4 days: (properly, 3.5 days)
Whereas 4 days in Luang Prabang (which is just a bit greater than a village) seems like numerous time, it’s truly not! There are such a lot of issues you are able to do in Luang Prabang. If you wish to see the whole listing, I wrote this text concerning the 18+ superb issues to do in Luang Prabang >>
Right here, on this article, I’ll deal with the actions and issues we’ve got loved essentially the most in Luang Prabang:
Go to the Unesco-protected Outdated City of Luang Prabang & night time market on Sisavangvong Highway
Luang Prabang grew to become a UNESCO world heritage website in 1994. Probably the greatest issues you are able to do in Luang Prabang is to put on snug sneakers and head for a stroll or a motorbike journey across the Outdated City – there are many stunning picturesque streets with pretty outlets, stalls and eating places.
Sisavangvong Highway is essentially the most well-known, busy and in style avenue in Luang Prabang. It will get particularly crowded within the night, round 6pm, when the night time market opens. The night time market in Luang Prabang has loads of stalls promoting garments, souvenirs and artwork. It’s primarily geared toward vacationers, but it surely’s a must-visit attraction anyway.
You can too strive native avenue meals there (proper at the beginning of the Evening Market, there’s a everlasting avenue meals market. The preferred dish in Laos is Laap – a meat or fish salad, which is scrumptious however very spicy. Most dishes in Laos are very, very spicy!).
Sundown cruise alongside the Mekong River
A Mekong sundown cruise is likely one of the greatest issues to do in Luang Prabang. Head to Khem Khong Road and also you’ll discover many boat homeowners providing their providers. We simply discovered a flyer for a $5.5 per particular person sundown cruise from Svan Mekong Cruises and booked it!
We had been so fortunate that there have been no different vacationers in addition to us that day, and we ended up having a personal cruise!
If you need a fancier expertise, you may ebook a dinner cruise with a 3-course dinner right here >>
Go to the Kuang Si waterfall
Kuang Si waterfall is likely one of the essential sights of Luang Prabang, 45 minutes away from the city. You may both get there by bike, purchase a tour or rent a taxi that may look ahead to you there for 3-4 hours for $20 for a day. Alternatively, you may get there by boat should you purchase a tour.
It’s good in your third day in Laos, when you may have a full day in Luang Prabang! You can too mix it with visiting the buffalo farm or the rice farm – each of them are on the way in which again to Luang Prabang!
Stroll the bamboo bridge throughout Nam Khan River
The bamboo bridge is barely open 6 months a 12 months and will get rebuilt yearly because it will get destroyed as soon as the water ranges rise. You should pay 10,000 kip ($0.6) per particular person to cross the bridge, but it surely’s completely price it.
Climb the Mount Phou Si
Climb Mount Phou Si – there are many stairs to climb, nevertheless, the views from there are properly price it. The ticket to enter the higher a part of Mount Phou Si prices circa $1 per particular person.
Go to the gorgeous temples in Luang Prabang
See essentially the most stunning temples in Luang Prabang – Luang Prabang has so many gorgeous temples, monasteries and stupas. Essentially the most stunning is undoubtedly Haw Pha Bang, positioned proper on the backside of Mount Phou Si.
Observe the Alm Giving ceremony with the Buddhist monks
If you happen to’re an early chook and wish to observe a singular, stunning ceremony necessary to locals, head to the Outdated City round 5:30am. It’s a ceremony the place native Buddhists supply the monks alms (selfmade sticky rice). Nevertheless, until you’re a Buddhist, you must chorus from collaborating; as an alternative, you may quietly observe the ceremony. You can too take images (with out a flash), however be sure to’re not in the way in which and never obstructing anybody.
Loosen up and revel in Luang Prabang
Regardless that there are such a lot of issues to do in Luang Prabang, it’s a good vacation spot for stress-free. It’s quiet, the distances are small, and nobody is speeding wherever.
Many resorts and resorts have swimming swimming pools, the place you may spend a couple of hours on a lounger suntanning and studying a ebook.
After virtually 4 days in Luang Prabang, I hope you’ll really feel properly rested and prepared for an extended journey residence.
Abstract: 5 days in Vientiane: the itinerary for Luang Prabang and Vientiane
I hope you loved this itinerary for 5 days in Laos, visiting one of the best of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Each Vientiane and Luang Prabang have issues to see and do and I like to recommend visiting each of those locations as they’re very totally different. Luang Prabang, nevertheless, is undoubtedly extra spectacular than Vientiane!
I hope you loved this submit and may you may have any questions, ship me a message on Instagram @lizatripsget!
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