Asia - Vientiane or Luang Prabang

Dear Flyertalk Community,

I'm planning a 3 day/2 night side trip to Laos with friends at the end of April 2012. I was wondering if any has traveled to both Vientiane and Luang Prabang in recent months. If so, would you recommend spending our short period of time in Vientiane or is it worth it to go to Luang Prabang. We are interested in visiting temples/wats and other Buddhist sites in addition local museums. Any recommendations you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advanced.

Dear Flyertalk Community,

I'm planning a 3 day/2 night side trip to Laos with friends at the end of April 2012. I was wondering if any has traveled to both Vientiane and Luang Prabang in recent months. If so, would you recommend spending our short period of time in Vientiane or is it worth it to go to Luang Prabang. We are interested in visiting temples/wats and other Buddhist sites in addition local museums. Any recommendations you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advanced.

Vientiane has some decent sights starting with Wat Ho Pha Kaew, Wat Si Saket, Wat Pha That Luang, Pa Tu Xai, Buddha Park outside of town but for temples your much better off in Luang Phabang. NB Lao has, in the past few years, started charging admission for many of it's temples in the aforementioned cities. Time was, about 5 years ago, where Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Phabang was the only temple charging admission. Now there are at least 6 temples in LPQ and at least the first three temples mentioned above in VTE. It's not expensive but I find it tacky.

For museums there isn't much in Luang Phabang outside of the old palace/museum grounds. Equally poor is the Vientiane museum scene which really only includes the two story building across from the cultural center on Sam Sen Thai.

I think both cities are interesting. Both are changing very quickly. And both are drawing enough tourists to change the dynamic of the places drastically. Most on this board will tell you to go to Luang Phabang and I see nothing wrong with that. I happen to like Vientiane also and find wandering around some of the non-touristy areas to be interesting and rewarding. I equally enjoy do that in LPQ though.

With 3 days/2 nights I'd recommend sticking with only one of the cities. Attempting both would result in enjoying neither.

I found Luang Prabang to be disappointing, a 'tourist enclave,' a fabricated historical disneyland, both charming and insulting. But, it may be exactly what people are looking for.

I found Vientienne to be a refreshing change to the typical tourist town, a bigger city where I could find locals living their daily lives, local food, and a city that had evolved with a bit of old, a bit of new. But, it may NOT be exactly what tourists are looking for... Still, the river stretch is quite touristy, and getting to the historical sites/temples was quite easy.

Vientiane has some decent sights starting with Wat Ho Pha Kaew, Wat Si Saket, Wat Pha That Luang, Pa Tu Xai, Buddha Park outside of town but for temples your much better off in Luang Phabang. NB Lao has, in the past few years, started charging admission for many of it's temples in the aforementioned cities. Time was, about 5 years ago, where Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Phabang was the only temple charging admission. Now there are at least 6 temples in LPQ and at least the first three temples mentioned above in VTE. It's not expensive but I find it tacky.

For museums there isn't much in Luang Phabang outside of the old palace/museum grounds. Equally poor is the Vientiane museum scene which really only includes the two story building across from the cultural center on Sam Sen Thai.

I think both cities are interesting. Both are changing very quickly. And both are drawing enough tourists to change the dynamic of the places drastically. Most on this board will tell you to go to Luang Phabang and I see nothing wrong with that. I happen to like Vientiane also and find wandering around some of the non-touristy areas to be interesting and rewarding. I equally enjoy do that in LPQ though.

With 3 days/2 nights I'd recommend sticking with only one of the cities. Attempting both would result in enjoying neither.

Thank you for sharing this feedback, dsquared37. I really appreciate it. I'll take this info back to my friends so we can agree on our destination point. Your info has been quite helpful.

I found Luang Prabang to be disappointing, a 'tourist enclave,' a fabricated historical disneyland, both charming and insulting. But, it may be exactly what people are looking for.

I found Vientienne to be a refreshing change to the typical tourist town, a bigger city where I could find locals living their daily lives, local food, and a city that had evolved with a bit of old, a bit of new. But, it may NOT be exactly what tourists are looking for... Still, the river stretch is quite touristy, and getting to the historical sites/temples was quite easy.

Hello, Seanthepilot! Thank you for this info. This feedback is also quite useful for me to share with my friends. Originally I was leaning toward Luang Prabang but I think your feedback will be helpful to the group I'll be traveling with since everyone will need to feel comfortable with our final decision. Thanks again!

I found Luang Prabang to be disappointing, a 'tourist enclave,' a fabricated historical disneyland, both charming and insulting. But, it may be exactly what people are looking for.


I find this to be a fairly accurate description. My little corner coffee shop has been invaded by Thai tourist vans and getting a cup of coffee, possibly the best in the twon, is now impossible before 8AM for me AND locals. The main street is an upscale tourist ghetto and on any given day there are more tourists on the peninsula than locals. Most restos are serving a very westernized menu or charging 10x (no joke) the going local rate for food.

However, I've been able to navigate around the heavily touristed areas and find some great little local niches. These will likely be gone in 2-3 years unfortunately. No location can keep it's allure and staying truthful with the influx of tourism is impossible.

The best analogy I can make for Luang Phabang is 'The VAIL of the Mekong'. Land is being bought up for the next 7 hotels. Local eats are being converted into boutique shop houses. Local houses are being sold for development. Locals will soon need to live outside the city limits and come into the city to work. Just like VAIL Colorado.

In the last 2 years upper end hotel prices have doubled across the board.