What this trip is really like
The northern loop with the jars added: the capital and its riverside, Vang Vieng's karsts and lagoon, two nights at Xieng Khuang for the jar sites and the old capital, then the flight to Luang Prabang for three nights.
The typical short route through Laos takes in just Vientiane, then Vang Vieng, then Luang Prabang. Here, an eight-day version works in two extra nights at Xieng Khuang, where the Plain of Jars sits — an archaeological site with few parallels across Southeast Asia, one that many travellers have never come across before. The pay-off is a genuinely different stop on an otherwise standard Laos trip, added for the cost of only a couple of days.
Overland travel links Vientiane to Xieng Khuang by way of Vang Vieng, before a short domestic flight covers the final stretch into Luang Prabang, sparing you the long drive back. It suits travellers with even a passing curiosity about history or lesser-known destinations, and the best conditions fall between November and February, when highland roads and Vang Vieng's river levels are most cooperative.
Trip highlights
- Vientiane city tour, Buddha Park and a Mekong sunset boat trip
- Blue Lagoon swim and Tham Phukham Cave in Vang Vieng
- Jar Sites 1, 2 and 3 at the Plain of Jars, Xieng Khuang
- Muang Khun, the old provincial capital, and the UXO exhibition room
- Domestic flight from Xieng Khuang to Luang Prabang
- Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Falls in Luang Prabang
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Vientiane, city on foot
Dating from 1818, Wat Sisaket — the oldest surviving temple in the capital — features on the afternoon tour, along with the Patuxay Monument, often compared to Paris's Arc de Triomphe. A sunset cruise on the Mekong closes out the day.
Day 2 — Buddha Park, then the road to Vang Vieng
Statues by the hundred — Buddhist and Hindu figures brought over from India — fill the open grounds of Buddha Park, the morning's first stop before the drive on to Vang Vieng. En route, the drive pauses at Ban Tha Heu, known for its dried fish, and at the KM52 Hmong market.
Day 3 — Vang Vieng's lagoon and caves, on to Xieng Khuang
Checkout gives way to a morning at Tham Phukham Cave and the local market, where a swim in the Blue Lagoon precedes the long haul on to Xieng Khuang. Along the way, a photo stop at the Phou Khoun Phieng Fa viewpoint, prized for its green mountain views, breaks up the drive before you check in to your Xieng Khuang hotel.
Day 4 — The Plain of Jars
Xieng Khuang's history with unexploded ordnance is set out in the UXO exhibition room, one stop alongside the Central Market at the start of the day, before Jar Sites 2 and 3 come into view at the Plain of Jars. Muang Khun, once the seat of the old province, follows, its ruined pagodas and a sizeable seated Buddha statue still standing. Jar Site 1 closes out the day — the biggest of the sites, perched on a hill with sweeping views over the countryside below.
Day 5 — Fly to Luang Prabang
A short domestic flight from Xieng Khuang to Luang Prabang spares you the alternative — hours of driving back across the highland roads — leaving what remains of the day free to settle into this UNESCO World Heritage town, where the Mekong meets the Nam Khan River.
Day 6 — Temples and the Mekong to Pak Ou
The National Museum, in the former Royal Palace, plus a run of temples en route to Wat Xiengthong, fill the morning, ahead of an afternoon Mekong cruise as far as the Pak Ou Caves, with a stop at Ban Xang Hai, where rice wine is distilled by hand. Pilgrims over many generations have left countless gold-leafed Buddha figures inside the caves, and the day closes with sunset marked atop Mount Phousi, climbed via its 328 steps.
Day 7 — Kuang Si and the villages
A tiered waterfall some 30 minutes outside town, Kuang Si Falls anchors a second Luang Prabang day — its turquoise pools and shaded trails good for swimming and an easy last day of sightseeing.
Day 8 — Departure
Your onward or return flight leaves from Luang Prabang International Airport, closing the trip, having moved you across four distinct corners of Laos in barely more than a week.
What's included
- Rooms with breakfast, twin-shared, in guesthouses and small hotels we know personally
- Meals listed in the programme, drinks excluded
- A Lao guide who speaks English, from the north where most of these trips run
- Private air-conditioned vehicles for the road sections
- Slow boats, river crossings and every entrance fee written into the plan
- Two bottles of drinking water per person on touring days
Not included
- International and domestic airfares and airport taxes (we can book them on request)
- Visa services — approval letter, stamp fee or fast-track if you want it
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades
- Meals not in the programme, drinks, and personal spending such as laundry, calls and tips
- Optional outings and anything not written into the plan
Book this trip
- Days
- 8 days / 7 nights
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