Things to do in Vientiane
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Vientiane
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best, cool dry peak. Temple walking, cycling, golf and trekking weather, November is the single best month.
Hot season, regularly over 35C with burning season haze. Doable only with dawn and evening discipline.
Green season begins, mostly afternoon downpours, prices drop, crowds vanish and waterfalls recover.
Wettest, lush and quiet with flooding risk in August and September that can disrupt excursions.
Transition and underrated, rains taper, landscape is greenest and temperatures ease.
What's on
- Boun That Luang Festival November, full moon of the 12th lunar month, about a week
Laos's grandest religious festival at Pha That Luang, with monks, alms giving, processions and fairs. Book hotels early.
- Pi Mai Lao 14-16 April
Lao New Year with nationwide water throwing, temple sand stupas and blessing rituals.
- Boun Awk Phansa + Boat Racing Festival October, end of Buddhist Lent
Fireboat processions and dragon boat racing on the Mekong with the whole city on the banks.
- Boun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) May-June
Handmade rockets fired in villages around the capital region to call the rains, with village fairs.
- Hmong New Year December-January
Colourful community led celebrations with traditional dress and ball games in and around the city.
- Lao National Day 2 December
Public holiday and parade day that can close offices and some services.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Vientiane
Pha That Luang
Laos's national golden stupa and most important religious monument, best seen when the gold glows in low light.
COPE Visitor Centre
Free, moving museum on unexploded ordnance and prosthetics work that changes how you understand Laos.
Wat Si Saket
Vientiane's oldest temple, with thousands of Buddha images set into its quiet cloister walls.
Haw Phra Kaew
Former royal temple that once housed the Emerald Buddha, now a calm museum of Lao religious art.
Patuxay - Victory Monument
Lao victory gate with decorated ceilings and a climbable top giving the best cheap panorama in the capital.
Chao Anouvong Park
The riverfront park where Vientiane gathers at sunset for exercise, families and views across to Thailand.
Vientiane Night Market
Red roofed riverside stalls best enjoyed as an evening promenade with snacks rather than serious shopping.
Wat Si Muang
The city's most lived in temple, busy with worshippers, offerings and blessings around the city pillar.
Where to stay in Vientiane
Downtown riverfront / Chanthabouly
first trip, all-round base
Only base that works on foot, with temples, cafes, the park and most restaurants in a flat compact grid.
That Dam / Samsenthai corridor
quieter nights, business, better value per square metre
Five to ten minutes from Nam Phu, slightly more local and businesslike, still walkable to everything.
Patuxay / That Luang direction
business near a ministry, families wanting a resort style pool hotel
Big avenues and larger hotels but spread out and thin at night, so expect rides to dinner.
Think twice about
- Talat Sao / Khouvieng bus station area
Dusty, diesel heavy and traffic choked with persistent tuk tuk touting. Cheap rooms cluster here for a reason.
- Airport strip and far Sikhottabong / western highway sprawl
Isolated and highway scale with nothing walkable, so every coffee becomes a ride.
- Far south riverfront / Don Chan island area
Resort isolation without resort payoff, stranding you from the centre's restaurants at night.
Best restaurants in Vientiane
Kualao Restaurant
Refined Lao set menus in a colonial villa with traditional performance, the formal Lao dinner to book.
Doi Ka Noi
Weekend only, market led regional Lao cooking unlike anywhere else, if it is operating on your dates.
Tamnak Lao Restaurant
Reliable traditional Lao dinner in a characterful house, with set menus that teach the canon well.
Han Sam Euay Nong
Beloved unpretentious Lao lunch spot for khao poon, salads, spring rolls and family recipes.
Khop Chai Deu
Big garden restaurant bar with nightly live music and a set designed as a first encounter with Lao food.
PVO Vietnamese Food
Cheap and brilliant Vietnamese pho and staples at local prices in the middle of the downtown grid.
Nem Sihom
Single dish specialist for nem nuong, grilled pork balls wrapped at the table with herbs and rice paper.
Fa Ngum Road riverside barbecue stalls
Sindat barbecue, grilled Mekong fish, sticky rice and Beerlao at sunset, dinner like a local.
Best coffee in Vientiane
Joma Bakery Café
The city's default cafe meeting point for real coffee, bagels, breakfasts and air conditioned work time.
Le Trio Coffee
Sister roastery to Joma where coffee people go for the beans themselves.
Outdoor things to do in Vientiane
Buddha Park
Surreal meadow of over 200 concrete Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, strange and highly photogenic.
Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area
Nearest national park to the capital, with forest treks, a boat ride and swimming at Tad Xay falls.
Nam Ngum Lake
Gentle boat day among islands and fishing villages on Laos's great reservoir lake.
Nam Xay Viewpoint
Steep short climb to 360 degree views over Vang Vieng's karsts and rice fields, reached by fast train.
Blue Lagoon 1
Popular swimming lagoon paired with Tham Phoukham Cave and its golden reclining Buddha.
Tham Chang Cave
Large cave add on for a Vang Vieng day trip if time remains after the viewpoint and lagoon.
Long Vien Golf Club
The country's most international standard course, large and polished, about 16 km south of the centre.
Lakeview Golf Club
Newest and most exclusive feeling Vientiane course, best played early on a weekday.
Best hotels in Vientiane
Settha Palace Hotel
1932 French colonial mansion hotel in gardens, the special occasion address for romance and character.
Crowne Plaza Vientiane, an IHG Hotel
Reliable modern luxury with pool, spa and gym on Samsenthai Road, with few surprises of any kind.
Amari Vientiane
New upscale riverfront hotel with a modern build in the best located luxury position in the grid.
Avani+ Lanexang Vientiane
New 197 room hotel on Fa Ngum Road overlooking Chao Anouvong Park, the land heart of the Boheme cruise.
Lao Poet Hotel
Design boutique luxury with Indochine styling and a rooftop pool scene, for couples who prefer boutique.
Salana Boutique Hotel
The mid range benchmark, elegant without stiffness, steps from the Mekong and the temples.
Ansara Hotel
Small quiet boutique in a lane off the centre with a garden and pool, for light sleepers.
Green Park Boutique Hotel
Resort feel in the city with tropical gardens and a good pool, a short ride east of the grid.
Is Vientiane expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | LAK 500,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | LAK 1,400,000 a person |
| Splurge | LAK 3,500,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Madam Phasouk Vientiane Cooking Class: a few days ahead
- Spicy Lao Kitchen: a few days ahead
- Bohème by Mekong Kingdoms: months ahead
- Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area: a few days ahead
- Nam Ngum Lake: a few days ahead
- Nam Xay Viewpoint: a few days ahead
- Blue Lagoon 1: a few days ahead
- Tham Chang Cave: a few days ahead
- Hotels in November to February peak and during That Luang Festival and Pi Mai.
- Boheme Mekong cruise months ahead, it has only 13 cabins.
- Doi Ka Noi if operating, Laos China Railway seats on weekends and festivals, and weekend golf tee times.
- Cooking classes, Phou Khao Khouay, Nam Ngum and Vang Vieng guided days a day ahead or on arrival.
Is Vientiane safe?
- Violent crime is low, the real risks are traffic, petty theft in crowded places and occasional bag snatches.
- Keep bags on the pavement side and valuables out of sight, especially at Lao holiday periods.
- In rural Laos never wander off paths or touch metal objects because of unexploded ordnance.
- Laos polices drugs seriously with severe penalties, decline all offers.
- Dress modestly at temples, remove shoes where indicated and do not touch monks.
- Serious healthcare is limited, the standard major emergency plan is evacuation to Thailand, so carry insurance.
Vientiane travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Calling Vientiane boring after one rushed afternoon, give it two days and do it before Luang Prabang.
- Patuxay and its tired park at midday, go at 8am or golden hour.
- The Night Market as serious shopping, it is mostly generic imports.
- Laminated tuk tuk price cards, a printed card is not an official tariff.
- Old guidebook restaurants, Makphet is permanently closed and other pre 2020 favourites have followed.
Getting around Vientiane: public transport and more
- Walk the flat downtown grid mornings and evenings and shelter at midday.
- Use Loca ride hailing for upfront kip pricing and air conditioned cars with no negotiation.
- Agree tuk tuk prices first every time and use a Loca quote as your bargaining fixture.
- Bus 14 from Talat Sao runs to Buddha Park and the Friendship Bridge.
- The Laos China Railway reaches Vang Vieng in about 1 hour and Luang Prabang in about 2 hours. Book ahead and arrive early.
Who Vientiane suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Vientiane your trip
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