Laos seems on the verge of becoming the place to visit in Southeast Asia. New York Times recently published “Is This the Year Laos Breaks Through?” Lonely Planet named the cultural capital, Luang Prabang, the top place to visit in 2025. This small landlocked country with captivating vistas, impressive Buddhist temples, and aromatic cuisine, nestled between the rich cultures of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China is a delight for travelers wanting to avoid more tourist-saturated locales. The official tourist slogan, Laos, Simply Beautiful says it all.

Luang Prabang, a must visit

Unesco placed the entire city of Luang Prabang, on their list of heritage sites back in 1995, thankfully preserving this culturally rich town from uncomely development, or worse… possible demolition. Think romantic French Colonial architecture mixed in with golden Laotian temples and palm trees, with a backdrop of the Mekong River and misty rainforest covered hills.

Mornings start early here. Following the 5 am prayers, barefooted monks in their signature orange robes make their way down the main street, collecting daily alms of rice and other foods from the public — they are forbidden to store food or touch money so this is a daily necessity. It is a sight to behold. Simple, quiet, and beautiful. I even caught a dog entranced by the procession.

The main thoroughfare, Sakkaline Road, is lined with boutiques, restaurants, hotels, museums, temples, the royal palace, gardens, and markets. We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel on this street, 3 Nagas, set within two historical heritage homes, a perfect location for strolling the sights in town.

We hired a driver/guide for three days to show us the sights plus provide transportation as needed. What I didn’t realize was that drivers are not allowed to work simultaneously as guides, so we were basically on our own visiting the sights. Some people prefer this, though I would have liked more historical content as we toured. Wikipedia to the rescue. Favorite activities included a sunset boat cruise along the Mekong, watching the morning alms giving, biking through town, hiking up Phousi Hill, visiting the temples and the royal palace, trekking to the waterfalls, and a walk through a local village.

What about the food and drink?

Laotian cuisine is spicy, similar to northern Thailand, but it doesn’t offer the sweet/sour profile often found in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. Coconut milk is a bit player here. Spicy, sour, salty, and bitter are the main flavor facets. Sticky rice is a staple of every meal. Minced meat salads, such as chicken larb, are popular menu items, as are curries, noodle soups, spring rolls, spicy green papaya salad, and pickled vegetables.

My favorite breakfast of the trip was Lao pho, a flavorful noodle soup similar to Vietnamese pho, with a choice of beef, chicken, or pork and accoutrements such as sprouts, herbs, chile sauce, and a sweet shrimp garlic paste.

Because of the French influence, good bread and bakeries are plentiful. There is a popular baguette-based sandwich — khao jee pâte — which is similar to the Vietnamese bahn mi.

Ice cream is beloved as well, in fact our historic hotel in Luang Prabang, 3 Nagas, was an ice cream parlour for the royal family in its previous life. The hotel carries on the tradition in a stand outside the entrance. Outside the city, there is a dairy farm, one utilizing the milk from water buffalos rather than cows, which also operates a popular ice cream shop.

Other than rice cultivation, the cuisine is historically based on foraging in the jungles or rivers, so in a typical restaurant think vegetables, roots, fruit along with river crab and catfish. In the marketplace, you may find more exotic foraging-type foods such as frog, wild birds, insects, and possibly snake. I visited the night market in Luang Prabang but honestly was too nervous to try anything exotic.

The locals love their national beer, Beerlao, as well as a rice-based whisky called Lao Lao, aka Mekong Moonshine. I did not try the whisky, though tried a similar one in Bangkok, but the beer was good and much appreciated with the spicy food.

Other cool things to see and do

Train ride through the countryside

We experienced the newly offered high speed train from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, the modern capital of Laos, cutting down the trip time to 2 hours vs. 7+ by car. It was a comfortable ride in first class car, though not as luxurious as our rail experience in 2023 from Yogyakarta to Jakarta. There is something so romantic about taking a train in Asia, watching rice fields, villages, rainforests and volcanoes sail past.

Vientiane

Vientiane didn’t inspire me visually as Luang Prabang though there are some beautiful temples and monuments mixed into the more mundane architecture typical of many Asian capitals. The Mekong runs through this city as well, providing a natural  border from Thailand here. Nice city but I definitely preferred the charm of Luang Prabang.

With only an afternoon and evening here, the three of us opted out of sightseeing, instead enjoying leg massages at a local (code word for not luxurious) spa, a welcomed and worthy endeavor. Afterwards we came across a beautiful temple with equally beautiful chanting emanating from it’s open doors. The golden hour lighting created some magic as well. Next we strolled through a park alongside the river before sunset, coming across a public zumba class which we joined briefly for a song or two. Lots of families were out enjoying the park’s amenities and night market vendors.

Vang Vieng

Town north of Vientiane known for its beautiful landscapes and active pursuits: river tubing, hot air balloons, hiking, and caves to explore.

Suggestions for a longer itinerary

Because we weren’t sure how much we would like Laos AND we wanted to visit both Bangkok and Bali with Miles, possibly our last big trip for awhile, since he graduates college later this year and starts a career —bye-bye long summer holidays with the family — this was a rather abbreviated first visit of four days devoted solely to Luang Prabang and Vientiane. There are things we missed which I’m sure would be very interesting if we’d had more time.

Luxury cruise down the Mekong. We considered it and perhaps will bring the idea to fruition one day. Take a look at these articles on Laos cruises: https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/mekong-river-cruise-laos and https://www.thetimes.com/travel/my-magical-journey-on-board-the-mekong-river-luxury-cruise-lsh2pfdld

The Plain of Jars. We considered after watching Anthony Bourdain go there, but it would have required a couple extra days. This archeological site of importance includes thousands of giant stone “jars” considered to be associated with ancient burial practices.  Anthony Bourdain, fascinated, described it as “From the first time I ever read about Laos, the Plain of Jars sounded so mysterious and enticing. You want to know, right away, “What does that look like? Where is it? What is it? The very name resonated in my overheated imagination as a young man reading of Colonel Kurtz-like spies leading opium-growing hill tribes in a battle, in a secret conflict.” Just note, it requires a flight or long arduous flight from Vientiane or Luang Prabang. Also this area was heavily bombed by the US and many bombs still remain undetonated so it is only possible to visit a portion of the jars.

The Gibbon Experience in Nam Kan National Park could be fun for a family trip as there are extensive zip lines through the hills covered in rainforest, giving one an experience of a gibbon. This is a 2-3 day experience as you trek into the park via zip lines and then overnight in treehouse accommodations along the way. The boys would have loved that when they were younger. Actually they still would.

Vieng Xai caves. A unique opportunity for war history buffs. This extensive cave system hid over 20k revolutionary member Laotians during the “Secret War” when the US covertly dropped over 260 million bombs on Laos in the 1960s and 70s. The caves housed an underground city, complete with a school, hospital, offices, movie theater, bakeries, and shops. They have been preserved and it is possible to tour them.

Adding Laos to a Southeast Asia itinerary

We added Laos to an itinerary which began in Bangkok for 3 nights. We flew Bangkok Air to Luang Prabang, stayed 2 nights, trained to Vientiane for 1 night, then flew Scoot to Singapore. We spent a night in Singapore, one of my favorite cities, followed by 10 days in Bali. I would recommend combining Laos with Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and/or Singapore. Perhaps we will combine with a trip to Myanmar when things are more stable there.

Laos Recommendations

Hotels

Luang Prabang

• 3 Nagas: where we stayed; lovely boutique hotel set within 2 historic homes on the main thoroughfare. Mid-range
• AVANI+: mid-range, in town, new hotel in colonial style, with swimming pool.
• Amantaka: can’t go wrong with an Aman hotel, other than a lighter wallet upon check-out. This one is set within an historic French government complex.
• Belmond La Resìdence Phou Vao: chic luxury hotel outside town
• Rosewood Luang Prabang: beautiful luxury resort on the outskirts of town
• Mekong Riverview Hotel: Another mid-range historic property, this one set along the river but still easy walking distance to all the sights in town.
• Sofitel: luxury resort outside town in a former governor’s residence. Mixed reviews.

Vientiane

• La Seine: we stayed here one night. Smallish well-appointed high-rise hotel near the Mekong with a decent rooftop restaurant. You won’t confuse it with a St Regis or Four Seasons but there didn’t seem to be a lot of choices for luxury hotels in Vientiane. We were only there one night but the rooms were large, nicely appointed with comfortable beds and modern bathrooms with separate showers and beautiful soaking tubs. The rooftop restaurant was very popular with locals and ex pats besides hotel guests. I recommend.

  

  La Seine lobby and wine collection

  

  Bathroom of our suite

  
  

See and Do

Luang Prabang

• Watch or participate in the morning alms giving
• Early evening stroll through town to admire the heritage architecture, stopping along the way for a cocktail al fresco.
• Climb Phousi Hill
• Visit the Royal Palace and National Museum
• tour the many temples
• visit the night market or morning market
• sunset cruise on the Mekong; we did this one
• bike around town and/or cross the bamboo bridge
• Kuang Si waterfalls
• See the sun bears at the Wildlife Sanctuary near Kuang Si waterfalls
• Elephant conservation center
• Buffalo Dairy: stop for an ice cream at the buffalo dairy farm
• Pak Ou caves

  

  The young monks head back to their monestary

  

  One of many temples in Luang Prabang

  
  

  

  Exploring Luang Prabang by bicycle.

  

  Morning market

  
  

  

  Morning market

  

  
  

  

  Cruising the Mekong

  

  
  

Vientiane

• Pha That Luang, aka Great Sacred Stupa
• Buddha Park
• COPE Visitor Centre: museum with exhibitions about the bombings of Laos
• Laos Textile Museum
• Patuxay Monument
• Mekong Riverside Park
• Wat Ong Teu: we stumbled across this 16th century temple during the golden hour before sunset, heard the beautiful chanting so stepped into the courtyard, the light was gorgeous and my phone camera caught a young monk heading inside. I peeked inside and was overcome with such a wonderful sense of peace. This is not a tourist oriented temple, but I found it wonderful with all the stars aligned at that time and place.

Eat/Drink

Luang Prabang

• 3 Nagas restaurant: delicious and beautiful. Worth a visit even if not staying here. They also have a lovely bar across the street with tables in the open doorways, perfect for people watching.
• Lost in Baan: fun place, good food, worthy of the 5 star reviews.

  

  3 Nagas cafe

  

  
  

  

  Lost in Baan interior

  

  Buffalo steak with purple forbidden rice at Lost in Baan

  
  

Vientiane

• 7th Heaven at La Seine hotel: buzzy place on the rooftop with views over the Mekong plus live music. Decent food and wine as well.

  

  

  Minced meat salads