We’d fancied going to Laos for a while and after deciding to go to North Vietnam we decided this was the perfect opportunity to visit this country for the first time. We loved it! Luang Prabang is a fantastic place, very laid back, pretty and with interesting things to do. Vientiane, the capital, wasn’t as fantastic, but we still had fun! We flew to Luang Prabang from Hanoi. Flights can be pricey but the journey takes just over an hour and the alternative is a very long uncomfortable bus journey.
We stayed at the Luang Prabang Orient Hotel, a really nice modern hotel about 10 minutes walk from the centre. Our room was really nice, we had a balcony overlooking the pool, a comfortable bed, great shower, fridge, etc. The reception staff, Chang, Choeng and Win, were really friendly and helpful. Breakfasts were nice and included a choice of freshly squeezed fruit juices or shakes.
If you’re staying in Luang Prabang a must do is to visit the Kuang Si Waterfall. It’s about an hour’s drive away along a terrible road full of pot holes and dreadful surfaces. There is a lot of work going on at the moment (Dec ’25) so hopefully the road will be greatly improved soon, making the journey time quicker too. We took a private taxi which is the most expensive option at around US$45, but tours started at around US$18 each and didn’t give you the freedom to start and finish when you want, so we were happy to pay a bit more. You can climb up to the top of the waterfall (good quality steps which also take you to a zipline if you’re interested) and there are nice pools at the top where you can swim, although we had heard the water was very cold and only saw 2 people swimming. The rocks can be a bit slippy, so make sure you have good footwear. There’s a little cafe at the top too, with great views. The waterfall is beautiful and well worth a visit.
Another wonderful thing that we did in Luang Prabang was a sunset cruise. There are many companies doing cruises, but our hotel recommended the company Sasa and paid 295,000 kip each (about 11.60 euros) which we thought was excellent value. The cruise lasts about 2 hours and you get a free drink (beer, cocktail or soft drink) and snack included. We were lucky because there was a fantastic sunset and the Mekong was beautiful and golden with the reflection of the sun. It was quite magical.
Another thing to do in Luang Prabang is to climb Sousi Hill. It’s quite a climb, but not difficult, and there are interesting things along the way such as the gold buddhas. The views from the top over the city are well worth the effort.
The main street in Luang Prabang has a lot of lovely shops and restaurants and is really nice just to walk along and browse. It’s also nice to walk along the riverside. There are several temples, our favourite one being Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham. We also visited the Royal Palace and National Museum, but we were distracted there because Gareth had just dropped his phone when he tried to pass it to me while he changed into trousers to visit the temple. We found a place to fix it, but it was a problem we could have done without!!
Everyone visiting Luang Prabang should visit the UXO Visitors Centre to learn about the terrible problems the Lao people have had and still have today because of unexploded bombs and mines left behind by American armed forces after the end of the Vietnam War and the amazing work of the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao). Entry is free but visitors should be encouraged to make a donation for this worthwhile cause. If you are visiting Vientiane, there is a similar visitors centre there which is actually better than the Luang Prabang one, with really interesting videos. Try to visit both if you can.
We had some amazing food and drinks in Luang Prabang. Our favourite restaurant was Buang on the main street. Delicious food, excellent service, great value for money at both. The Luang Prabang sausage at Buang was the best we had, and their Laos Meatballs and Red Stir Fry Curry were also delicious. Yuni Yupoun was another really nice place. There are lots of really nice coffee shops there too.
One negative review has to be for Cafe Toui. We had read great reviews and went out of our way to go there for dinner. It was empty apart from one table but the scruffy looking staff greeted us as if they were disappointed to be disturbed. Reviews had praised the friendly staff, so perhaps there are new owners or we just caught them on a very bad day. We should have left then, but decided to stay and the food was actually quite good, but the whole vibe was negative and we felt that they couldn’t wait for us to leave! It was so unlike everywhere else in Luang Prabang where the staff were so friendly.
After 5 really enjoyable days in Luang Prabang we took a train to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Note that you can’t book this train until 3 days before your journey and chances are that when you go to book it is already showing sold out. This happened to us and we weren’t exactly enthusiastic about the prospect of having a bus journey of about 11 hours to get to Vientiane. Luckily Chang, one of the Receptionists at our hotel was able to use her contacts to get us tickets. The high speed train journey takes about 2 hours. We travelled at night so there was nothing to see, making it a bit of a boring journey. Security is strict, like airline check-in and many people have aerosols, pocket knives, scissors, etc confiscated. We left a swiss army knife at the hotel in Luang Prabang as they assured us it would not be allowed in our luggage.
Our first impressions of Vientiane were not good. We stayed at The Riverside Hotel down by the night market, and when we went out to explore on our first evening there we were shocked at the piles of rubbish all over. It is a nice hotel in quite a good location, near the daily night market and just a block away from what seemed to be the nicest part of the city, but the streets nearby were quite disgusting. The night market was a bit disappointing too to be honest. We felt that it was aimed more at locals than tourists and the clothes, jewellery, bags etc were all super-blingy – lots of sparkly stuff, gold chains, etc!
When we went exploring the next day we found that Vientiane is not the easiest city to walk around because the pavements are atrocious full of potholes, trip hazards, etc. We walked to the Victory Monument (Patuxay), past the Presidential Palace. For a small fee you can climb to the top of the Victory Monument for some nice views over the city and to browse the small museum with historical information. The monument was built in the early 1960s to commemorate the independence of Lao PDR from French rule. As mentioned above, try to find time to visit the Mag UXO Visitor Centre for really interesting information about the unexploded bombs which are still a big problem for the people of Laos, particularly children.
On our first night we were quite late arriving so looked for something to eat close to our hotel. There was a small, friendly restaurant/bar called Sticky Fingers in the next street so we had some food there the first night and returned a couple of other times for drinks because we liked the atmosphere and the staff were very welcoming.
Last year in Thailand, Gareth discovered Swensens Ice Cream and loved it, so he was delighted to find a branch in Vientiane! The Sticky Chewy Chocolate Fantasy is definitely his favourite!
We wanted to do something special on our last night in Vientiane (also our last night in Laos) and decided to go to the Tipsy Elephant Rooftop Bar at the Best Western Hotel. It’s a really nice bar with a lovely ambiance and great views over the city. The food and drinks are good too and not too overpriced considering it’s more of an upmarket type place. We enjoyed the spring rolls, pad thai and spicy noodles, but would rather they hadn’t all come at once! We did find this to be a problem throughout our trip. You have to specifically ask for a starter to be served first if you don’t want all dishes together. Service was good and friendly and they brought us nice soft warm blankets when it got quite chilly at the end of the night.
We had a great time in Laos and it’s somewhere we’d like to return to, particularly Luang Prabang.