Laos 10-Day Itinerary

Laos 10 Days Itinerary is a combination of classic, sightseeing and off the beaten track tour we arrange in Laos. The 10 day trip starts in Luang Prabang, northern Laos, goes through Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and finishes in Pakse, southern Laos.

Product Description

Laos 10 Days Itinerary is a combination of classic, sightseeing and off the beaten track tour we arrange in Laos. The 10 day trip starts in Luang Prabang, northern Laos, goes through Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and finishes in Pakse, southern Laos.

Laos 10 Days Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Luang Prabang.

On the first day of this Laos 10 Days Itinerary you will be met by our staff and transferred to your hotel. Luang Prabang is perhaps the best-preserved traditional city in Southeast Asia. The tranquility and charm of this town with its splendid natural scenery and cultural sights make it one of the most delightful places to visit in Laos. We’ll visit the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun and the shrines of Wat Aham and Wat Mai; we then climb up to the top of Mount Phousi to explore the sacred, gilded stupa as well as capture a beautiful view of the city and the Mekong River at sunset. From there, we visit the Night Market, where you can browse through a lovely selection of handmade textiles. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Day 2: Pakou Cave.

After breakfast, we enjoy a short-guided tour seeing the city’s oldest temple Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong with its low sweeping rooves. We then board an upstream cruise on the Mekong River, which gives us a panoramic view of the tranquil countryside. We’ll make sure to stop at the Pak Ou Caves, sanctuaries consisting of two large caverns, both repositories for thousands of Buddha images. We will also stop at a few villages during the day, including Ban Xanghai where the local rice wine is produced and Ban Xiengmene and Ban Chan. In the afternoon we’ll visit the royal temple at Wat Longkhoun. Once back in Luang Prabang we’ll take a short drive to Ban Phanom, a village well known for its hand weaving and, if time, Ban Xangkong and Ban Xieng Lek – small villages well known for silk weavings and for Saa (jute) Papermaking. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Day 3: Khouangsi Waterfalls.

An optional early start gives you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily alms giving ritual to saffron-clad monks. This tradition is unique to Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the procession. You will visit the morning Phosi Market where you will find dried buffalo skins, local teas and saltpeter among the many foodstuffs and hill-tribe textiles. Laos is also known for its traditional crafts, and today you will have the opportunity to visit ethnic minority groups in the Ban Ouay, Hmong, Ban Ou, Laoloum, Ban Thapene and Khmu Villages. After visiting the villages, we drive to the beautiful Khouangsi Waterfalls where you can swim in the turquoise pools or walk along forest paths. We return to Luang Prabang in the late evening to observe the sunset at Wat Phabath. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Day 4: Luang Prabang – Xieng Khouang.

After breakfast we visit The National Museum (closed Tuesday) at the former Royal Palace, which displays a lovely collection of artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture throughout the ages. Today we leave this charming town and drive to Xieng Khouang, an area once devastated by American bombings. These back roads are a great way to have an authentic Laos experience. We’ll see very few other travelers, just mostly rural dwellers who are just as interested in us as we are about them! Upon arrival, we transfer out to visit the Plain of Jars, an impressive archaeological site where hundreds of large stone jars are scattered all over the plateau. If time permits, we see the old capital of Muang Khoun and some nearby villages, Overnight in Xiengkhuang.

Day 5: Xieng Khouang – Vientiane.

Following breakfast, we visit the Central Market, after which, you have free time to explore the town further before catching our flight to Vientiane. After checking into the hotel, we continue our sightseeing tour of the surrounding areas. Time permitting we’ll go to the impressive Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge and Buddha Park, a scattered enchanting collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures. There are approximately 200 religious images dating back over 500 years here. A spectacular view of over the Mekong River at sunset is a perfect way to finish the day. Overnight in Vientiane.

Day 6: Vientiane City Tour.

After breakfast, we continue to explore the capital by visiting the major sights including Wat Sisaket, which contains more than 8000 Buddha statues, Wat Ho Prakeo the former home of the Emerald Buddha statue and That Luang Stupa, the single most important monument in Laos. We also see the Patuxay (Lao Arc de Triomphe), which was built recently in commemoration of those who died during past wars and today it is the city’s main landmark. We continue visiting the rest of Vientiane by foot, including Wat Ong Tue, Wat Inpeng and Wat Haisok. We pass by the major shopping areas and the Vientiane Central Markets where various goods are displayed for sale. We return to the Mekong Riverside in the late afternoon to watch the sunset. Overnight in Vientiane.

Day 7: Vientiane – Pakse – Don Khone Island.

After breakfast, we catch an early flight to Pakse. On arrival, we drive south to visit the fascinating UNESCO protected pre-Angkorian ruins of Wat Phu, one of Southeast Asia’s most dramatically situated temples. They are perched at the base of Mount Phu Kao and date back to the 5th century. We continue our drive to Ban Nakasang then take a local boat to Donkhone island, the largest island in the South Mekong river region known for its 4000 islands. Overnight in Don Khone Island.

Day 8: Don Khone Island.

After an early breakfast, we explore the local villages, where you will see an array of relics from the French colonial era including an old railway and locomotive. We continue to discover the area by boat at our leisure and make sure to stop at Liphi waterfalls, one of the most beautiful in Laos. If we are lucky, we may even see the rare freshwater Irrawaddy Mekong dolphin. We return to Ban Nakasung and drive to Khone Phapheng, the largest and most famous waterfalls in South East Asia. Overnight in Don Khone Island.

Day 9: Don Khone Island – Tadlo – Pakse.

Upon leaving Don Khone, we continue our journey towards Tadlo through the Boloven plateau. The Plateau is known for its cooler temperature and has remarkable rivers running off the edges into the lush forests below. A trip to the plateau provides a refreshing break from the heat and allows you to see how coffee, tea, cardamom, bananas, and other crops are cultivated. This part of our journey is off the beaten track and allows you to discover some of the lesser-known areas in Laos. Upon arrival at the Tad Lo waterfall, we visit ethnic minority villages of the Alak, Nge and Katu. We return to Pakse by late evening. Overnight in Pakse .

Day 10: Departure.

After breakfast; there will be free time for your own exploration of Pakse before catching a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia or exiting Laos overland to Thailand. Laos 10 Days Itinerary is completed.

Laos private tours

Lotussia Travel partners with best local tour operator in Laos to provide a wide selection of multi-activity holidays at affordable rates. Options include countryside cycle, mountain biking, road cycling, jungle trek, trekking homestay, mountain hiking, peaks climbs, motorbike, scouter touring, camping, caving expeditions, kayaking, boat trips, cruise, sightseeing, culture tours. Most of our trips are private customized, and specially designed for small group tours, family vacations. The itinerary above – Laos 10 Days Itinerary is only a sample that can be further customized to better fit your requirements. Just follow it or contact us for designing your perfect adventure in Laos.

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Additional Information

Primary activity

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Trip duration

Depart from

End at

Pakse

Adventure level

Itinerary disclaimer

Occasionally our tour itineraries are updated during the year to incorporate improvements stemming from past travelers’ comments and our own research. The information given in this itinerary may be slightly different to that in the service proposal. It’s very important that you print and review a final copy of your itinerary a couple of days prior to travel, in case there have been changes that affect your plans. If you have any queries, please contact us. We are here to help you!

Please note that while we operate successful trips in Vietnam throughout the year, some changes may occur in our itineraries due to inclement weather and common seasonal changes to timetables and transport routes. This can happen with little notice so please be prepared for modifications to the route. The order and timing of included activities in each location may also vary from time to time.

Inclusions

Depending on the proposed option (semi-guide tour or all-inclusive package tour), the price may include the following services. Please bear in mind Lotussia Travel is specialized in tailor-made trips. Trip cost vary depending on group size and other details.

  • Car transfers.
  • Local tour guide. The English-Speaking guide is provided by default. Other language may be available upon request (with extra charge).
  • Meals.
  • Entrance fees.

Exclusions

Unless required most of the following services are usually not included in our tour price.

  • Visa
  • Flight/Train tickets.
  • Accommodation.
  • Tour leader.
  • Local porter(s).
  • International travel insurance.
  • Drinks.
  • Tips.
  • Personal expenses.

Tour guide

Our tour guides speak English or French. They hold a university degree in tourism and national license as a guide. If you wish to send a tour leader along with any group, he or she can fully rely on the knowledge and experience of our local guides.

Remote treks are always accompanied by a local representative to deal with permits and authorities and manage the porter team. They speak the local dialects, know the cultural traditions and give tips on suggested behavior in fragile ecological areas and tribal communities. For some itineraries, the role of tour leader and representative is combined.

Driver

Our drivers don’t speak English. It’s possible that a few of them might know some basic words, such as telling time, stop, and lunch. If you’re looking for effective communication throughout the journey, we highly recommend booking a tour guide.

Trip routes

Principally, Lotussia Travel requires all the trip associates to know the destinations well by any means of traveling or enquiry to the local suppliers to figure out all the relative details of any trip. For adventure tours such as jungle trekking, mountain hiking, sea kayaking, river rafting or biking, cycling tours, Lotussia Travel will never add any new routes into available schedule until survey or pre-view it.

Accommodation

Lotussia Travel carefully choose all the hotels, guest-houses or home-stays based on service quality, location, and characteristics, doing best to make the accommodations in the remote small places as comfortable as possible. Please bear in mind that hotels in Vietnam might not be in the same standard in other country. Generally hotels in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city, Hoian, Hue…are much better than hotels and guest-houses in mountainous areas.

Meals

Lotussia Travel take dinning as an indispensable experience to clients since it is an important part in Vietnamese culture. Therefore, Lotussia Travel will not intend take clients to the most expensive restaurants but non-touristy local ones which offer delicious, local food, with nice or interesting atmosphere. The restaurants might be simple in the country but LOTUSSIA Travel guarantee is sanitary and cleanliness. Or even on our trek, we encourage our cook offer client food with new tastes from day to day. During adventure itineraries to mountainous or remote areas, there is sometimes no choice for hotel and restaurants. We will try our best to bring you the best taste of local food.

Drinks

As the tap water in Vietnam is undrinkable, Lotussia Travel recommend clients to drink bottled water throughout your trip, or boiled water on treks. Lotussia Travel offers bottle water all the day, and soft drinks like Cola, Sprite or Vietnamese Tea or if possible juice in restaurants (if mentionned in itinerary). This is not automatically included in the packages. In simple restaurant or on camping, Lotussia Travel offers boiled water, instant coffee or juice, wrapped milk (Details are confirmed in bottom of your itinerary).

Transportation

In most destinations of Vietnam, all the roads are well paved though the traffic is quite messed up like in Hanoi, Hai Phong… We use proper vehicles, car, minibus or coach in good condition based on the size of the groups. We use 4WD only on the rough road where the other vehicles could not pass through or based on clients requirement on overland journeys or treks. For cycling itineraries, we usually use our support minibus or minibus with support truck. For sea kayaking, river rafting trips, diving packages we use standard boat as support. Detailed information is provided on our service proposal.

We use drivers who are native or local of each travel destination and maintain good safety records for all trips. Most of our drivers can speak English but a little bit. This is just enough to understand basic words such as “time of departure”, “stop”, “restaurants”, “hotels”…If you want to learn more about Vietnamese culture and information about sightseeing sites, booking a tour guide is highly recommended.

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