Laos moves at river speed.
Which Kuang Si day gets you there before the coaches. Whether the slow boat is worth two days of a two-week trip. What a dawn balloon over Vang Vieng actually costs. Every tour in Laos, reviewed.
Kuang Si, Pak Ou, the karst: where a Laos trip actually goes.
The falls south of Luang Prabang, the Buddha caves upriver, the limestone above Vang Vieng and the golden stupa in Vientiane. Five or six days carry most itineraries through Laos, and every one of them books differently.
Kuang Si: get there before the coaches do.
All 18 Kuang Si trips →
The falls sit 29 kilometres south of Luang Prabang and the coaches all land around eleven. The trips that work either leave early or go late and stay for the light. These three carry the most travellers.
Pak Ou by boat, Kuang Si after lunch
Up the Mekong to the Buddha caves in the morning, back down past the whisky village, then the falls with the afternoon light coming sideways through the trees.
Afternoon at the falls, sunset on the river
You arrive as the coaches leave. The top pool empties out, the bear enclosure quietens, and the cruise home puts the sun down behind the far bank.
North up the Nam Ou to Nong Khiaw
Past the confluence the valley narrows and the limestone closes in on both sides. Lunch on a sandbank, a walk to a waterfall, back on the water before dark.
In Luang Prabang the day starts at the alms round and ends on Phousi.
Barefoot before six for the tak bat, breakfast at the market, then the falls or the caves. The town is small enough to walk end to end, and slow enough that the good classes and cruises are gone days ahead.
What travellers in Laos actually book.
Every review →The tours more travellers take than anything else in the country, and what each one gets right.
1
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
Cruise the Mekong to Pak Ou Caves, taste Lao whisky, swim at Kuang Si Falls, and enjoy lunch, village visits, and hotel pickup.
From · $48
Read our review →
2
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
from $52
3
Kayaking & Cave Tubing with Zip Line/Blue Lagoon
from $30
4
Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)
from $40
5
UNESCO World Heritage City Highlights Tour
from $35
6
Namxay Viewpoint, Blue Lagoon 1 & Phoukham Cave
from $29
7
Afternoon Kuang Si Waterfalls & Sunset Cruise
from $35
8
Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony
from $51
The slow boat, the sticky rice and the rescued bears.
Temples and food markets run the whole length of the Mekong. Two days on a wooden bench, a morning that begins with a basket at the market, and a bear sanctuary on the path to a waterfall belong to Laos alone.
The Slow Boat
From Huay Xai on the Thai border the boat takes two full days to reach Luang Prabang, with a night ashore in Pakbeng and nothing to do in between but watch the bank go past. Wooden benches, a cool box of Beerlao, and a river that runs brown in the wet season and green in the cool one. Most travellers meet the same water on the shorter run below, upriver to the caves and back by dark.
- 1Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,769 reviews
- 2Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,360 reviews
- 3Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 290 reviews
The Sticky Rice Morning
A Luang Prabang class starts at the morning market with a basket, and finishes with laap, mok pa in a banana leaf and rice you steamed yourself. The bamboo and weaving mornings run the same way, one household at a time. Several end with a Baci, the string-tying blessing families here use for a birth, a wedding or a traveller about to leave.
- 1Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 151 reviews
- 2Bamboo Weaving Workshop & Cooking Class★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 96 reviews
- 3Cooking Class at the Former Royal Palace★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 51 reviews
The Rescued Bears
Before the first pool at Kuang Si there is an enclosure of Asiatic black bears taken out of the bile trade and off the back of wildlife trucks. Most people walk straight past it on the way up and give it twenty minutes on the way back down. It sits inside the falls park a few minutes above the entrance gate, so every trip below goes by it.
- 1Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,769 reviews
- 2Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,360 reviews
- 3Afternoon Kuang Si Waterfalls & Sunset Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 158 reviews
What a day costs between the Mekong and the karst.
The whole list by price. Most of Laos comes in under the cost of the flight that got you here.
Market walks, half-day cruises, cave mornings and the falls on a shared minibus.
The classic full days: Pak Ou and Kuang Si together, cooking classes that start at the market, kayak runs on the Nam Song.
A private car with a guide, the balloon at first light, and the multi-day runs up the Nam Ou.
Vang Vieng is a valley of caves with a river running through it.
The limestone starts at the edge of town and does not let up. Kayak the Nam Song, wade into Tham Nam behind a headlamp, climb Nam Xay for the view down the valley, and be up again for the balloon at first light.
Vientiane is a capital that closes at ten.
A golden stupa, a victory arch poured from runway concrete, and a field of concrete deities 25 kilometres down the river road. Two days covers it, and the food is the reason to stay for the second.
- 1Vientiane Cultural Tour with Private Guidefrom $125
- 2Cultural Tour with Buddha Park and Patuxayfrom $58
- 3Half-Day City Tour with Patuxai and Buddha Parkfrom $52
Fix these before you land in Laos.
Most of the country can be arranged from a guesthouse the night before. These cannot. They run on a river timetable, a dawn window and a road that eats a whole day.
- 012-Day Transfer to Luang Prabang by Slow BoatTwo days downriver with a night in Pakbeng. The boat keeps its own timetable and the route has to be built around it.
- 02Hot Air Balloon Ride with City Hotel PickupVang Vieng flies at first light and again before sunset. Each basket takes a handful of people and the cool season fills first.
- 03Plain of jars tour with local guidePhonsavan is a long day east of the river towns. It only works if the route goes that way before you arrive.
- 04Almsgiving Ceremony OfferingThe alms round happens once, in the half hour before dawn. There is no second sitting later in the day.
Laos after dark is a night market and a kitchen in no hurry.
All evening tours →
From May to October the falls are at their best and the sky is not.
The rains fill Kuang Si until it roars and turn the Mekong the colour of strong tea. The days that hold up regardless are indoors or underground: a kitchen, a weaving frame, a cave and a headlamp.
By town, north to south
Luang Prabang81 tours
Nong Khiaw7 tours
Vang Vieng19 tours
Vientiane20 tours- Kuang Si Falls21 tours
- Pak Ou Caves10 tours
Plain of Jars4 tours- Every tour in Laos →
The Mekong route, border to capital.
The latest Laos tour reviews.
All recent →
Full-Day Private Guided Pak Ou Caves & Ethnic Village Tour
Read our review →
Half Day Exploring the Charms of Vientiane and hotel pickup
Read our review →
3 Days The Plain of Jars and Xieng Khouan (Depart from Luang Prabang)
Read our review →
