Things to do in Pakse
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Pakse
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months. Cool and dry, roads at their best, waterfalls full early in the period. Peak season, so book the good small hotels ahead.
Hot and hazy on the plain, with the plateau the correct escape. Pi Mai, Lao New Year, falls in mid April.
First rains green the plateau and the falls begin to roar. Village rocket festivals run on varying dates through May.
Wet season. Greenest landscapes and most powerful falls, but muddy tracks, slippery descents and zipline cancellations.
Rains retreat and the end of Buddhist Lent brings fireboats and Mekong boat racing in Champasak. A connoisseur's month.
What's on
- Boun Wat Phu Full moon of the 3rd lunar month, usually February, three days
The south's biggest festival, thousands of pilgrims at Wat Phu with dance, music and markets. The temple at its most alive and most crowded.
- Pi Mai Lao About 13 to 16 April
Lao New Year. Temple water blessings in the morning and water fights by afternoon, with businesses closed for days.
- Boun Bang Fai Village dates vary through May
The Rocket Festival. Villages fire homemade rockets to call the rain, with parades and celebrations. Ask in Pakse for the nearest host village.
- Boun Ok Phansa and Boun Suang Heua October full moon, with boat races around it
End of Buddhist Lent, with candle processions, fireboats on the river at night and longboat races on the Mekong in Champasak.
Best things to do in Pakse
Wat Phu
A pre Angkorian Khmer temple climbing a sacred mountain above the Mekong, best done early as a day trip from Pakse.
Wat Phou Salao
A giant golden Buddha on a hill across the Japanese bridge, with the best sunset panorama over Pakse and the Mekong.
Dao Heuang Market
One of the largest markets in Laos, at its best early for cooked to order breakfast stalls and Bolaven produce.
Wat Luang
Pakse's main working temple, a calm half hour of murals and local worship near the Xe Don riverfront.
Champasak Provincial Museum
A small museum with Angkor period carving and bronze drums that deepens Wat Phu, if you find it open.
Pakse Night Market
A small, local dusk market for grilled Mekong fish, laap and a riverside Beer Lao the night before the loop.
Where to stay in Pakse
Old Town and Wat Luang riverfront
first trip, all round base
Walk to Wat Luang, the night market, the best restaurants, coffee and the motorbike renters, with quiet streets at night.
Route 13 and Phabath, east side
families, pools and bigger hotels
Quieter and more spacious than the old town, with the big hotels and pools, a short tuk tuk ride from dinner.
Think twice about
- Highway 13 and Km 8 bus station sprawl, east of town
Not unsafe, but a dusty, noisy truck frontage with nothing to walk to. Staying here adds a tuk tuk ride to every coffee and dinner.
Best restaurants in Pakse
Na Dao Restaurant
Pakse's one fine dining room, a French kitchen with a five course tasting menu. Confirm it locally before going.
Le Panorama Rooftop Restaurant
An open air rooftop above the Pakse Hotel with the town's best sunset view and a daily happy hour.
Dok Mai Lao Caffe Restaurant
An Italian run trattoria in a courtyard garden, with generous pasta and pizza and hard to find imported ingredients.
La Mémoire Café and Restaurant
A polished Lao fusion cafe restaurant where Pakse itself goes for a nicer meal, known for its shaking beef.
Daolin Restaurant Cafe
A big, bright, fast cafe restaurant with a huge menu, generous portions and prices that suit every group.
Jasmine Restaurant
Pakse's long running Indian, always busy, with sizzling tikka masala, soft naan and a deep vegetarian menu.
Xuan Mai Restaurant
A Vietnamese run kitchen for super fresh pho, spring rolls and Mekong fish, plus a well regarded cooking class.
Vida Bakery Cafe
A European style bakery cafe with real espresso and fresh bread, the breakfast to start the loop on.
Best coffee in Pakse
Café Sinouk
Serious Bolaven coffee from the Sinouk plantations, served in a calm room in the old French quarter.
Mr Vieng Coffee Homestay
A Katu farmer walks you through his organic coffee garden, then roasts and brews the beans in front of you.
Jhai Coffee House
Specialty pour overs from named Paksong lots at a philanthropic roaster, and the place to buy Bolaven beans.
La Boulange
A French bakery for croissants, baguettes with homemade pate and good coffee, and a baguette for waterfall picnics.
Outdoor things to do in Pakse
Bolaven Plateau
The cool coffee highland ridden as a motorbike loop of waterfalls and farms, sleeping out in Tad Lo and Paksong.
Tad Fane Waterfall
Twin falls dropping about 120 metres into a jungle gorge, the plateau's grandest viewpoint after rain.
Tad Fane Zipline
A multi line zipline across the Tad Fane gorge itself, giving the best and most thrilling view of the twin falls.
Tad Yuang Waterfall
A broad cascade minutes from Tad Fane that you can walk down to, picnic beside and swim below.
Tad Champee Waterfall
The plateau's best swimming lagoon, with a path behind the curtain of water into a rock overhang.
Tad Lo Waterfall
A broad, powerful fall by Tad Lo village, made for a slow overnight with a swim at the end of the day.
Tad Hang Waterfall
A pretty series of small cascades in Tad Lo village, linked to Tad Lo by small bridges on an easy walking loop.
Si Phan Don
The Mekong braids into thousands of islands here, best taken slowly with a night on quiet Don Khon.
Best hotels in Pakse
Residence Sisouk
A converted family house in the French quarter, Pakse's most characterful stay, with a confluence view at breakfast.
Pakse Hotel & Restaurant
The classic town centre hotel, big breakfast and a famous rooftop, with dated bathrooms and patchy room wifi.
Sanga Hostel
Pakse's best budget bed, spotless curtained dorms and privates, plus the travel desk loop riders trust.
Nang Noi Guesthouse
A meticulous, quiet family guesthouse with good loop scooters, secure bike gates and free luggage storage.
Champasak Grand Hotel
Pakse's biggest hotel, with river view rooms, a large pool and the town's best big hotel breakfast buffet.
Athena Hotel
A spotless garden hotel with a pretty pool and planted balconies, a calm family base east of the old town.
Is Pakse expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | LAK 450,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | LAK 1,100,000 a person |
| Splurge | LAK 2,800,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Tad Fane Zipline: a few days ahead
- Na Dao Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Residence Sisouk: weeks ahead
- Sanga Hostel: a few days ahead
- Book Sanga Hostel and the best Residence Sisouk rooms ahead from November to February and around the Wat Phu Festival.
- Reserve the Tad Fane zipline or buy a voucher in Pakse on Lao and Thai holiday weekends, and expect weather delays.
- Almost everything else, plateau guesthouses, Tad Lo stays, island bungalows and all restaurants, is walk in territory.
Is Pakse safe?
- The risks in Pakse are road risks. Ride the loop only if licensed and experienced, wear a helmet, and never ride after dark.
- The nearest real hospital is in Pakse, so insurance that covers licensed motorbike riding matters more here than usual.
- Waterfall rocks are slippery year round and currents strong after rain. Swim only where locals do, and never at Tad Fane.
- In the wet season, local advice that a track is impassable should be treated as final.
Pakse travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Doing the Bolaven Plateau as day trips from Pakse means highway hours instead of plateau hours. Sleep out on the loop.
- Tad Lo elephant bathing uses chained animals and draws distressed recent reviews. Do not pay for it.
- Tad Fane Resort is reviewed far worse than the falls. Go for the viewpoint and zipline, not to stay or eat a full meal.
- The Sekong and Attapeu leg of the big loop divides riders and has the roughest roads. A hybrid route often beats a rushed full circuit.
- Glossy coffee tours teach less than farm tours. Mr Vieng is the comparative reviews' clear winner at half the price.
Getting around Pakse: public transport and more
- Walk the old town core. Elsewhere use tuk tuks and agree the fare before you move.
- The airport is about 3 km and 10 minutes from the old town, with thinner flight schedules outside the dry season.
- For the islands, buy a through ticket from your hotel or Sanga Hostel to Ban Nakasang and the Don Det or Don Khon boat.
- Kip in small notes is essential for markets, waterfalls and farms. Cards work only in the bigger hotels.
- Download offline maps before the plateau, where phone coverage is patchy and fuel stations are sparse.
Who Pakse suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Pakse your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store