Float down the Mekong River by day and shop until you drop at the largest handicraft market in all of Laos by night in Luang Prabang!
There's so much to do in this little city, and even more culture to immerse yourself in. After a few days here, you are bound to fall in love with every nook and cranny.
Make sure to check out Vang Vieng while in Laos
Read our blog post all about it!
Our ILP volunteers based in Thailand for their semester abroad have been loving the chance to visit Laos. One of their favorite spots to carve some vacation time into is Luang Prabang. It is the perfect mix of adventure and cultural immersion that any good trip needs, and lucky for you, we put together a complete guide that taps into multiple ways you can fill your days here. Take a look for yourself!
Luang Prabang is located in the ancient capital of Laos, right in the heart of Asia.
The incredibly detailed Buddhist temples originally put it on the map for visitors. Luang Prabang is filled with so much history and has successfully preserved so many ancient temples and idols that the entire city has been titled a UNESCO World Heritage Site! How cool! To give a bit of context on what it takes to get that title, some other cities in the world labeled UNESCO World Heritage Sites include Venice, Italy, Stone Town, Zanzibar, and Queretaro, Mexico!
This historic city is surrounded by lush mountains, which visitors like to hike! The Mekong River flows between the city, and it will likely be one of your most used landmarks to know where you are going. You might even get to catch a ride on one of the boat rides providing transportation throughout the day.
Our ILP Alumni have told us they loved their time in this lively city and recommend that future travelers plan to stay here 2-4 days, depending on how much you decide to pack in! Luckily, this post will give you more insight into how much time you want to set aside to enjoy this wonderful city.
Just a small reminder that you always need to check for current visa requirements before crossing into a new country. At the time this post was written, you do need a visa to visit Laos.
They have visas on arrival available, which allow a 30-day visit for US passport holders. When crossing the border into Laos, you’ll need to pay your visa fee in US cash.
Please check out the Travel State Department’s website (in the travel section) for the most up-to-date requirements and prices for a visa. This blog post walks you through exactly how to find what’s required for a visa to the country you’re traveling to (in this case, you’ll look at requirements for Laos).
When traveling from Thailand, past ILP volunteers have used private drivers to get to Vientiane and then either had a private driver take them to places like Luang Prabang, or booked the train to travel between the different cities within Laos. Once you are in Luang Prabang, there are a few different ways you can get around.
InDrive is similar to Grab or Uber. It's an easy way to request a driver where you can easily specify the pickup and drop-off location. What's unique about InDrive is that you choose the price of the drive before anybody decides to "pick up" your request. So take note that if you set the price too low, then you likely won't have anybody wanting to drive you. The app does offer a recommended price. Past volunteers did have some experiences where drivers would try to upcharge or cancel the request.
Good to know: It's rare that you'll find someone who speaks English in this area, so it's good to have Google Translate ready to go on your phone in case you need to communicate with your driver.
Most of the time, the drivers who pick you up on Grab will have the classic open-back vans that you pile into, which is very typical in this part of the world. This is great when you have a larger group that you want to pack into one ride. It's also an adventure in and of itself!
Luang Prabang is actually a pretty walkable city. The only time you will really need a ride is if you choose a hotel far away from the city or need a quick drive to some of the touristy spots here, like Mount Phousi.
There are plenty of great options to stay here in Luang Prabang, and many are conveniently located close to the main city, which is where you will be spending most of your time. We put together a list of places that you can check out that range in cost. Our biggest recommendation is to choose a place that fits into your own personal travel itinerary.
Our volunteers have LOVED staying at the Sa Sa Lao in the past because it's affordable, offers a yummy buffet-style breakfast, and is right on the Mekong River!
Some of our volunteers' favorite memories from Luang Prabang were made sitting at breakfast and watching the river flow by as the sun reflected off the current. Not only was the view gorgeous, but the food was scrumptious. We're talking banana bread, croissants (with sweetened and condensed milk, of course), fried eggs, coffee, juice, etc.
This place caught our eye because of how cute the house was, surrounded by lush rice fields. It looks like something you'd see in a romance movie like The Notebook.
This precious house is not only cute on the outside but also has some awesome features, like a dining room that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner (not included), an airport shuttle (not included), and proximity to attractions like Mount Phousi and Wat Xieng Thong.
If you're yearning for a more luxurious stay in Luang Prabang, Maison Dalabua can be just that. While the price is higher than our other recommendations, this place has wonderful reviews and is absolutely stunning.
Not only is it surrounded by "lotus ponds and tropical gardens", but it's a quick 5-minute walk to the night market, which is many travelers' favorite thing to do while in Luang Prabang.
If you plan on spending a couple of days in Luang Prabang, you will have plenty to fill up your time! You have options ranging from a hike that will quite literally get all of your steps in to a night market that is the perfect place to collect all of those souvenirs you need to pick up for the people you left back home.
The night market in Luang Prabang is the largest handicraft market in all of Laos and a huge draw to this beautiful city! Don't tell Thailand, but our ILP volunteers have mentioned that many of the souvenirs they got here (especially the jewelry) were even better quality than what they found in Thailand, so they were pretty excited about that. We still love the Thailand market in Chiang Mai, but Luang Prabang is a must-visit if you love to shop.
You will find hundreds of vendors that line the street selling items like coin purses, belts, scarves, Laos-specific souvenirs, jewelry, and even bottles filled with creatures such as tarantulas and snakes. This place truly is a sight to behold.
It is recommended to haggle here. It's a balancing act to score a deal for yourself at a price that's doable for the vendor (and remember that this is their livelihood so even if it's cheap for you, that may not be the same for them). If you're new to this, know that you should start low (usually lower than you think) and the vendor will give you a higher price. Keep chatting with them until you get to a price you're both happy with. Don't worry about offending them — this is how it's done here and they won't sell it at a price that's too low for them.
Another cool thing about this market is that it is right by some of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so you can sightsee and visit the market in one trip.
If you've been missing your stairmaster back home, Mount Phousi should be able to fill that void for you. This hike (most often done at sunrise or sunset) includes 328 steps up the steep mountainside and takes about 30ish minutes to get to the top, depending on how many breaks you take. Along this hike, you will find multiple shrines and small temples that pop up along the way, which are good points to take a break and to take in the historic landmarks.
At the top of Mount Phousi, you will be able to see the amazing panoramic views of Luang Prabang, the Mekong River, the views that have been hiding behind the city, and the town itself that you've grown comfortable walking around. Maybe you'll be able to spot your hotel! You will also be able to look around a Buddhist Stupa called "Wat Chomsi," which represents Luang Prabang's spiritual importance to Laos.
The Mekong River is one of the main landmarks of Luang Prabang because the city is built alongside and around it! This river can be enjoyed for free through peaceful walks or by admiring it as you eat a meal. Many of the hotels here also have great views of this river, which is one of their big selling points. Our ILP alumni reminisce about their nightly walks along the river as they debriefed with their friends and decided that moments like that were what made Luang Prabang so fun!
You can actually book a 2-hour boat tour down the Mekong River that will take you to the Pak Ou Caves! There are two limestone caves that are filled with Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. You have to disembark from the boat to get to these caves and take some stairs to reach them. Some of the Buddha statues are hundreds of years old, while others are on the newer side. This is where many Buddhists come to place their damaged Buddha statues. Pretty cool, right?
This will definitely be more of a relaxed experience, and isn't supposed to be advertised as a high-intensity adventure. This is a calm excursion where you get to enjoy the boat cutting down the river, see the mountains from a new perspective, and even catch a glimpse of the locals who build homes alongside it. Once you get to the caves, it's typically a quiet, meditative experience where you admire the works and eventually leave.
You can read further about someone's personal experience traveling to the Pak Ou Caves here.
This Buddhist temple is one of the many examples of why the whole city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its original Lao architecture is made with incredible detail, including the gold stenciling that is featured. You will likely stumble upon the Wat Xieng Thong while attending the Night Market, but now you can have more insight into how cool it is that buildings like this can be stumbled upon.
If you have an open day in your itinerary, a popular day trip that volunteers have taken is to the Kuang Si Waterfalls!
Kuang Si is a series of magically pretty turquoise pools that cascade into limestone swimming spots, all fringed with the thick tropical jungle you know and love about this part of the world. We have a whole separate blog post dedicated to these falls, which we've linked below!
All About the Kuang Si Waterfalls
Wanting to discover more of Asia?
We send college-aged volunteers on semester-long volunteer programs to countries all across the world, including Thailand! Our Thailand volunteers get to travel all across the continent to cool places like Laos and Vietnam. Check out all of our locations and see if volunteering with us is right for you!