Laos moves slowly. Plan for that.
Which Kuang Si trip leaves before the coaches. Whether the two-day slow boat beats the bus. What a Nam Ha trek actually costs. Every tour in Laos, reviewed.
Luang Prabang is small. Its day trips are not.
The old town fits between two rivers and you can walk it in a morning. Everything else is a drive or a boat ride out: the falls to the south, the Buddha caves upriver, the ridge trails behind the town.
The days people come to Laos for.
A limestone waterfall the colour of glass, a cave of a thousand Buddhas upriver, a green river through karst, and a kitchen where lunch is what you picked at the market. Six days that plan most Laos trips.
Kuang Si: get there before the coaches.
All Kuang Si trips →
Thirty kilometres of road, three tiers of turquoise, and a bear sanctuary at the gate. The difference between trips is the hour you arrive and how you get back: minivan, riverboat, or a bike with a long downhill.
Falls first, everything else after
Out of town by eight, pools to yourselves for an hour, back for lunch. The cheapest way to see the water at its clearest.
Upriver to Pak Ou, downriver by dusk
Two hours up the Mekong past the whisky village at Ban Xang Hai, into the two Buddha caves in the cliff, then the current does the work coming home.
Tad Sae and the villages behind it
A shorter, softer set of falls reached by longboat, with weaving hamlets and a rice paddy or two on the road in. Best in the wet months, when the water actually runs.
The most popular tours in Laos.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else in the country. Here is what each one gives you for the day.
1
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
Cruise the Mekong to Pak Ou Caves, taste Lao whiskey, swim at Kuang Si Falls, meet Hmong villagers, and enjoy lunch for $48.
From · $48
Read our review →2
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
from $52
3
Kayaking & Cave Tubing with Zip Line/Blue Lagoon
from $30
4
Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)
from $40
5
UNESCO World Heritage City Highlights Tour
from $35
6
Namxay Viewpoint, Blue Lagoon 1 & Phoukham Cave
from $29
7
Afternoon Kuang Si Waterfalls & Sunset Cruise
from $35
8
Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony
from $51
Vang Vieng is one long green river and a wall of karst.
The Nam Song runs right through it, the limestone stands straight up behind it, and almost everything on offer involves getting wet, getting high above the valley, or both. Book the balloon the day before; the dawn slots go first.
What a day out in Laos costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. A very good Laos day starts at the cost of dinner.
Waterfall runs, market cooking classes, city half-days and river sunsets. Most of Laos lives here.
Full-day paddles, balloon flights, two-day slow-boat legs and private drivers for a group.
Multi-day treks with village nights, chartered boats and the long overland routes to the Plain of Jars.
Things you can only do in Laos.
Waterfalls and markets exist everywhere in the region. A cliff cave stacked with four thousand Buddhas, a jungle reserve you walk into and sleep in, and a plain of Iron Age stone jars do not.
The Buddha Caves at Pak Ou
Where the Nam Ou meets the Mekong, two caves sit in a limestone cliff above the water, packed with something like four thousand Buddha figures left there over four centuries. Tham Ting is the lower and lighter one; Tham Theung is up a stair in the dark and needs a torch. Boats stop at Ban Xang Hai on the way, where the rice whisky is made.
- 1Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,769 reviews
- 2Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,360 reviews
- 3Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 290 reviews
The Nam Ha Reserve
Laos put a national protected area around the forest north of Luang Namtha and let the villages inside it run the trekking. Two and three-day walks cross rivers barefoot and end at a Khmu or Akha homestay with dinner cooked over a fire. Group size is capped by the guides, so the trail stays quiet and the money stays in the valley.
- 1Nam Ha NPA 3 Day Wildlife Jungle Camp and Village Homestay Trek★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 11 reviews
- 2Kuang Si Waterfall Jungle Rafting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 7 reviews
- 3Jungle & Caves Full-Day Private Trekking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 3.4 · 7 reviews
The Plain of Jars
Thousands of carved stone jars, some of them two metres tall, stand in clusters across the Xieng Khouang plateau near Phonsavan. Nobody has settled what they were for; burial is the leading theory. The cleared sites are marked with concrete blocks because this was the most heavily bombed province on earth, and you stay between the markers.
- 1Plain of jars tour with local guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 8 reviews
- 2Plain of jars share group tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 4 reviews
- 3Plain of jars private tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3 reviews
Alms giving and monastery visits.
Before dawn each day, monks from the monasteries of Luang Prabang walk the streets to collect food. Residents kneel to offer sticky rice. Visitors who take part are expected to buy their rice beforehand, sit lower than the monks, stay quiet, and keep back from the line. Several of the tours below also cover the monastery grounds themselves, including Wat Xieng Thong, and the novices who live and study there.
- Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony4 hours · from $51
- Foodie Walking Tour & Monk Blessing3.5 hours · from $50
- Almsgiving Ceremony Offering1 hour · from $25
- Home-cooked dinner & Baci ceremony with Villagers in Ban Nasangfrom $68
Vientiane keeps the country’s biggest things.
The gilded stupa at Pha That Luang, the arch at Patuxai, the thousands of small Buddhas walled into Wat Si Saket, and a sculpture park of concrete deities twenty-five kilometres downriver. A capital you can cover in a day and a half.
- 1Vientiane Cultural Tour with Private Guidefrom $125
- 2Cultural Tour with Buddha Park and Patuxayfrom $58
- 3Half-Day City Tour with Patuxai and Buddha Parkfrom $52
The Mekong is the best table in Luang Prabang.
All evening tours →
Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)
Read our review →Book these before you land in Laos.
Most of Laos can be arranged from your guesthouse the night before. These cannot: they run on dawn slots, capped group sizes, and boats that leave once a day whether you are on them or not.
- 01Hot Air Balloon Ride with City Hotel PickupOne dawn window a day and a fixed number of baskets. The sunrise flight is the first thing to go.
- 02The Wild Explorer – 3 days forest trek with homestay and campingVillage homestays are booked through the guides and capped per night, so a bed has to exist before you arrive.
- 03Chiang Rai: 2-Day Transfer to Luang Prabang by Slow BoatThe slow boat runs on its own timetable, not yours, and the two-day legs need the overnight stop reserved.
- 04Plain of jars tour with local guideGetting out to the plateau is a long overland day each way, so the seat and the driver are arranged well ahead.
Rain fills the waterfalls. Plan around it, not against it.
From May to October the afternoon storms are heavy and short, the roads slow down, and Kuang Si and Tad Sae run at full strength, which is the best they ever look. Keep the mornings for water and the wet afternoons for a kitchen, a loom or a covered market.
By town — where you sleep decides your days
Luang Prabang82 tours
Vang Vieng23 tours
Vientiane27 tours
Nong Khiaw5 tours
Luang Namtha6 tours- Every tour in Laos →
North to south, river by river.
Plain of JarsThe newest reviews on the site.
All recent →
3 Days The Plain of Jars and Xieng Khouan (Depart from Luang Prabang)
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6-Day Private Laos Tour to Vientiane, Pak Ou Cave, Luang Prabang
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VangVieng Climbing and Ballon Area (Departure from Vientiane)
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Nong khiaw, 1Day Muang Ngoy Waterfall, Local Village and Kayaking
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Half Day Exploring the Charms of Vientiane and hotel pickup
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