Goldorak

beautiful town, temples, Mékong river sides, waterfall outside town.
touristic, certainly, but no hordes of tourists (no big groups). Great restaurants. Just relaxing

CrazyInteg

sides?

dsquared37

As in, alongside the Mekong River.

CrazyInteg

I've never been to Luang Prabang. Do they have a nice walkway along the Mekong?
What about the Khan river?

EDIT : Just walked around on Google Street maps. I get it now.

LPQ

The heritage and its natural setting.

Neither of which have been damaged by tourism. However, that has attracted lots of tourists. The city centre is primarily geared to servicing the visitors who tend to swarm early evening in the hunt for food and bargains refreshed after having returned from their trips into the countryside.

The benefit to the local economy is an increase in living standards and investment in the infrastructure. Since 2011 noticeable improvements can be seen on the ground as pavements and metalled roads. On the river a vehicle ferry has started. In the air, the new airport terminal has just opened.

I've been impressed that such development has not been at the expense of the World Heritage Site.

onuhistorian0116

I just got back from 10 days in Laos, it was my third time in Laos and second time in Laung Prabang. We found cheap round trip KMG-VTE flights for Golden Week, it is really hard to find cheap international flights out of China for the National Holiday.

My itinerary was:

Day One: Landed in Vientiane enjoyed a delicious Philly Cheesesteak at Ray's Grille.
Day Two: Flew Lao Skyways to Laung Prabang. It is only about 140 or so miles away, but it is a about 8-10 hours on the bus.
Day Three-Four-Laung Prabang.
Day Five: 5 hour 70 mile bus journey south to Vang Vieng
Day Six-Eight: Tubing in Vang Vieng
Day 9: Four Hour Bus to Vientiane
Day 10: Flight back to Kunming.

Laung Prabang is beautiful, it was my second time and my girlfriend's first. The Kaung Si waterfall is a must see. The Buddhist caves are highly overrated, it is the same stuff you see in every other Buddhist temple in that part of the world, but inside a cave, that requires 2 hours one way on boat to get to. You can also just enjoy your time in beautiful old town.

Vang Vieng is beautiful, and if you get up before the gap year kids, late morning early afternoon tubing is quite nice. There are decent extra curricular there as well. The problem with Vang Vieng is, while it isn't as bad as say 2010, it still very much has a gap year fell, and is filled with 20 year old Western backpackers there just to get wasted, who are not particularly respectful to the locals. Vang Vieng is also close to a halfway point between Vientiane in Laung Prabang. I have never taken the bus straight through, as flights are about 100 USD, but based on the condition of Lao roads and the comfort of Lao busses, either stop in Vang Vieng or if you can afford the $50-100 ticket, just fly.

Vientiane is an airport. There isn't much to see or do there. I can eat a nice Philly Cheesesteak (I live in China where Western food is usually poorly prepared and/or quite expensive) and fantastic Indian food. Seriously, I once spent a full day in Vientiane, there is nothing going on.

joe_miami

Great thread. Thanks to all for the info.

How is Lao Skyways? I hadn't heard of it until just now; their flights, at $45 to $55, aren't listed on Google Flights but are about $100 cheaper for LPQ-VTE or the reverse. (It seems nuts paying $150 for a 50-minute flight in SE Asia, but I guess the bus ride is awful (?).)

On a related note, are there any cheaper flight options from Hanoi to LPQ or VTE than the ones listed on Google? This will be my first time in both countries. Thanks.

Bonaturtle

Luang Prabang is great, and I'd gladly go back after visiting this year. Hope it stays off the beaten path for most travelers as it's not the easiest place to get to, and is quite peaceful. Great food and architecture, and cheap as can be.

CrazyInteg

You better hurry, the high speed train construction is progressing quickly and the town will be overrun with tourists as soon as the train is open.
Main section of China-Laos Railway bridge over Mekong River completed - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Bonaturtle

Ah that's too bad. The place can't handle mass tourism like other cities. Is there that much of a demand from China to have direct connection into Laos?

breakinggood

I had no idea about those guides thru my chase card. Thanks so much.

SanDiego1K

Is this still the process? Because I'm not figuring it out. And yes, I'm a Chase Sapphire cardholder. This post was from 2015. For those who made it to the guide, has it been updated?

CApreppie

Any current 2023 recommendations for Vientiane and LP? We are headed there soon. One night in V and 3 nights in LP. We decided to fly V to LP since the train required middleperson to book and the train stations are out of the way. Taking Scoot to V and Lao Airlines V to LP and Lao LP to Chiang Mai.

This will be the last major SE Asian country that I have not visited with the exception of Brunei.

subinf

Based on a FT recommendation I spent 4 days at the Kiridara (booked offsite Villa for more space and location). It was great and easy to walk around. A shuttle was provided for eating at the main property and if you wanted to swim. I’d return and stay there again.

Goldorak

Many lovely hotels in LP. I can recommend you "Les 3 Nagas" or the Sofitel LP. Les 3 Nagas has also one of the best restaurant in town (accessible even if not staying at the hotel of course).