Best of Laos - 9 days

Welcome to Vientiane, Laos. Your guide and driver will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel where you can refresh yourself after your flight. Rest of the day is free  at leisure to relax or stroll around the centre of Vientiane. The city centre build along the Mekong River and all shops, night market, food market … are gathering at spot. Take a walk to the riverside and blend right in with a very much Laos local life.

Meals: Nil

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

This morning visit Wat Sisaket, Vientiane’s oldest temple which houses thousands of Buddha images, sculptures and paintings, and see Wat Prakeo, home of the famed Emerald Buddha and countless other statues. Next stop by the Patuxay Monument, known as the city’s Arc de Triomphe and home to some fun hidden stairways, then continue on to see the massive That Luang Stupa, an icon of the nation. After lunch, head out of the city to Buddha Park, a riverside green space filled with hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu statues perfect for running around and exploring. Back in town, enjoy a sundowner drink by the Mekong before returning to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

Head out for an early flight to Pakse, located at the confluence of the Mekong and Sedon rivers in southern Laos. Here, board a long tail riverboat for a 2.5 hr trip down-river to meet the Vat Phou Cruise boat and check in to your cabin. In the afternoon you will go ashore to explore the ruins of Vat Phou itself, a Hindu temple originally dedicated to Shiva built by the Khmers of the Angkor era. Transfer back to your boat at the end of the day, to enjoy dinner on board in the light of a tropical sunset over the bank of the Mekong, as your cruise docks for the night near a remote village.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

After breakfast on board your boat, pause for a short walk to Oum Muong, a temple hidden in the forest not far from the river bank. Continue your cruise and enjoy lunch on the deck, stopping in late afternoon to visit a small Lao village where the traditional lifestyle continues as it has for centuries. Your cruise will anchor for the night at the tip of Don Khone, the largest island of the 4,000 Islands region, where the Mekong splinters into myriad channels and can stretch as far as 14km wide in the rainy season.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

Enjoy breakfast on board as your Vat Phou Cruise heads to a nearby village where you will board a small boat to explore the 4,000 Islands region and reach the inhabited section of Khone Island. Here, you’ll see the remains of a colonial French railway project, cross the bridge to Det Island, and hop back aboard a boat to a riverbank fishing village where you’ll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. From here, transfer to view Pha Pheng Waterfall, the region’s largest, which is known as the Niagara of the East. You’ll return to Pakse for the night.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

This morning drive to visit Tad Fane Waterfalls up on the Bolaven Plateau, known for its cool climate and coffee plantations. Drive farther into the Bolaven Plateau to meet some of the local ethnic minority groups, and enjoy a pool break by Tadlo Waterfall before returning to Pakse. Later, board your flight from Pakse to Luang Prabang, where you’ll be met and whisked to your hotel for the night.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel, or take a bowl of local noodle soup after the alms-giving ritual. Step into some of the city’s most important temples, peaceful, sacred havens filled with iconic sights like the Watermelon Stupa and an expansive Tree of Life mural presenting the Buddhist story. Walk the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum, housing many historical treasures and the Prabang, a sacred Buddha image which gave the town its name. Later, climb the 328 steps up Mount Phousi, which dominates the Luang Prabang skyline and offers a panorama over the city and spectacular sunset views.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

Option:

Rise early to join the locals lining up to offer food to the Buddhist monks walking back from morning prayers. After this solemn ritual which is repeated daily, stroll through the morning market.

This morning after breakfast, head out to a nearby farm for a direct experience with the Laos methods of growing rice. There, you will get a taste of the ploughing, sowing, transplanting, harvesting, grinding and pounding that is behind every bowl of rice you eat here. From here it is a short drive to Khuang Si Waterfalls, a tiered falls in a lush forest setting where you can take a cooling swim, or simply relax and enjoy the scenery. Return to Luang Prabang to enjoy the evening on its peaceful streets.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: There are 3 hotel ranges for your selection, please scroll down.

After breakfast, bid farewell to Laos and transfer to the airport to board your departing flight. We wish you a pleasant journey.

Meals: Breakfast