How many days you actually need
The single most common planning mistake in Laos is cutting a fortnight into seven one-night stops. Here is what each length of trip really buys.
The short answer
| Nights in Laos | What is realistic | Which of our trips |
|---|---|---|
| 3 - 4 | One region, no transfers beyond it | Luang Prabang 4 days, or the Thakhek loop |
| 5 - 7 | One region properly, or two that are close together | Northern Laos trek, or southern Laos |
| 8 - 11 | The north with the centre, entering by river | Laos highlights 10 days |
| 12 - 14 | The above plus the Plain of Jars, or the south on its own | Highlights plus an extension |
| 15 - 18 | The whole country, north to south | North to south 15 days |
The reason those numbers look conservative is distance. Laos is 1,100 km long, the roads are mountainous in the north and slow in the middle, and the only fast link is a railway that covers one corridor. Every itinerary here is really a question about transfer days.
Why one-night stops fail
A one-night stop costs you a packing morning, a check-out, a transfer of three to seven hours, a check-in, and an evening. What you get is one afternoon and one morning, and the morning is spent packing again.
Two nights in the same place costs you the same single transfer and gives you a full day. That is the whole argument, and it is why our itineraries have almost no single-night stops except at Pakbeng, where the boat forces it.
For every three nights in Laos, allow one travel day. A ten-night trip has three travel days in it whether you plan for them or not. Trips that ignore this are the ones where people say afterwards that they spent the whole time in a van.
Four shapes that work
Four nights: one region
Luang Prabang and its valley, or the Khammouane karst behind Thakhek. No second region, no exceptions. Four nights with two regions in it is two two-night stops separated by a day in a vehicle, and it is worse than either region alone. See the four-day Luang Prabang trip.
Seven nights: one region, deeply, or two that touch
Either Luang Prabang plus the Nam Ou valley, which is a single road and a river, or the south from Pakse to the islands. Both are covered by our six-day trips with a night added. This is the length where Laos stops feeling like a transit country.
Ten nights: the north and the centre
Enter by the Mekong slow boat, three nights in Luang Prabang, two on the Nam Ou, two at Vang Vieng, one in Vientiane, out by air. That is the ten-day route and it is the itinerary we sell most often, because it is the shortest one that includes an unhurried arrival.
Fifteen nights: the whole country
The above plus the Plain of Jars and the entire south, using one flight from Vientiane to Pakse to skip an eleven-hour drive. Our fifteen-day route. Eighteen nights lets you add the Thakhek loop and drop the flight.
North or south, if you have to choose
| The north | The south | |
|---|---|---|
| Landscape | Mountains, karst, rivers in gorges | Plateau, wide Mekong, waterfalls |
| Walking | The best in the country | Gentle, not the point |
| Culture | Luang Prabang, hill villages, Buddhist life | Khmer archaeology, Mekong river life |
| Getting around | Slow, mountainous, scenic | Flat and quick |
| Crowds | Busy in Luang Prabang, empty elsewhere | Quiet everywhere |
| Best for | A first visit | A second visit, or anyone who has had enough of Angkor and Hanoi |
For a first visit under twelve nights, the north. For a second visit, or if you are crossing to Cambodia anyway, the south.
How Laos fits with its neighbours
Most people arrive from Thailand or Vietnam and leave to Cambodia or Thailand. Two combinations work particularly well and one does not.
- Northern Thailand into Laos. Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong, cross the bridge, and take the slow boat to Luang Prabang. The best land entry in Southeast Asia.
- Laos into Cambodia. Finish at the Four Thousand Islands and cross at Nong Nok Khiene, two hours from Stung Treng. Neat, and it saves a flight.
- Vietnam into Laos overland. Possible at several borders but slow, and the buses are grim. We would fly Hanoi to Luang Prabang unless the journey is the point.
We plan and run only the Laos portion. Operators who sell four countries at once know one of them well, and we would rather be the one you use for this one.
The mistake we see most often
A fourteen-night Southeast Asia trip with three nights allocated to Laos, arriving late on day one and leaving early on day three. That is one usable day, for two flights.
If Laos gets three nights in your trip, spend all three in Luang Prabang and accept that you are seeing one town. It is a good town. What does not work is three nights spread across Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, which is what most agents will sell you.
Not sure which shape fits?
Tell us how many nights you have and what you want out of them. We will tell you honestly if the answer is fewer places rather than more.
Questions travellers ask most
Is four nights worth it at all?
Yes, if all four are in one place. Luang Prabang with its valley is a genuinely good four-night trip and people leave satisfied.
Four nights spread across three towns is not worth it, and we would rather say that than sell it.
Can we see the north and the south in ten days?
Technically, using a flight in the middle, and we would advise against it. Ten nights split between two halves of a long country means four transfer days.
Twelve to fourteen makes it reasonable. Fifteen makes it good.
How much time do the roads really take?
Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw, 3.5 hours for 140 km. Luang Prabang to Phonsavan, 7 hours for 260 km. Vientiane to Pakse, 11 hours for 680 km.
Those are with stops and are realistic rather than optimistic. Average speeds in the northern mountains are around 40 km per hour.
Does the railway change the answer?
For the Vientiane to Luang Prabang corridor, yes - it turns eight hours of road into under two hours of train, and it makes Vang Vieng easy to reach.
It does not help with the Nam Ou, the Plain of Jars or anywhere in the south, which is most of the country.
Read next
Tell us what you want out of Laos
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.