This 10 night/11 day holiday to Laos is a real highlights tour of this fascinating, laid back country. Laos, also known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is a mountainous, landlocked country with no fewer than 49 officially recognised ethnic groups throughout the stunning and often rugged countryside. On this holiday you will be lucky enough to visit the beautiful temples of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, all important examples of the countries cultural and religious heritage some dating as far back as the 11th Century. You can witness the early morning alms giving in Luang Prabang where the Buddhist monks form a procession around the streets collecting alms of rice and vegetables from the local population, an integral part of the Buddhist philosophy.

But what may well be the highlight of the whole holiday is the Vat Pho Cruise. This luxury cruise adventure takes in the UNESCO registered Vat Phou ruins at Champasak, the mysterious Oum Muong ruins and the 4,000 Islands with its myriad of waterways. All in all, the Laos Holidays will give you a good idea why the country’s unofficial mantra for many travellers is "Lao PDR" or Lao - Please Don't Rush.

 

Day 1: Departure

Depart London Heathrow on flight to Vientiane with Singapore Airlines, via Singapore.

Day 2: Arrive Vientiane

Meet upon arrival at Vientiane Wat Tai airport.
Take your private transfer and check-in at your chosen hotel.
The rest of the day/evening is at leisure.

Day 3: Vientiane city tour (B/-/-)

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. In the morning visit Vat Sisaket, the oldest original temple in Vientiane. Built in 1818, Vat Sisaket is the sole survivor of an invasion in 1828 and features remarkable frescoes and 6,840 Buddha images.

Nearby is Ho Phra Keo, once the royal temple of the Lao monarchy. Built in 1565, Ho Phra Keo has been used as a museum since 1970 and contains some of the finest Buddhist sculptures and artefacts in the country.

One of the most photographed images of Vientiane is Patousay, the victory gate also known as Anousavari. Constructed in 1958, its architecture is inspired by the Arc of Triumph in Paris.

In the afternoon visit the morning market and drive to the Buddha Park, located 24 km south of Vientiane, and take a look at the impressive Friendship Bridge. Return to Vientiane via the weaving village of Ban Nong Bouathong.

Day 4: Pakse (B/-/-)

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Take the early morning transfer to the airport for Lao Airlines flight to Pakse.

Meet upon arrival at Pakse airport and visit Tadlo located on the northern edge of the Boloven Plateau. En-route, make a short visit to the Katou village of Ban Houeihoun. This minority is a primitive population that earns their livelihood from forest products.

This afternoon visit the impressive Tad Fane waterfall and the Tad Yuang waterfall and then continue to Muang Thateng and Paksong via Ban Kok Phoung: (Alack and Kaleum villages). The Boloven Plateau, which was formed by an ancient volcano, is famous for its coffee and tea plantations. The plateau has a number of tribal villages, some of them still practicing Stone Age culture. Continue to Pakse and overnight.

Day 5: Vat Phou Cruise (B/L/D)

This morning meet at the Sinouk Coffee House in central Pakse and transfer to a long-tail riverboat for your journey to Champasak. Upon arrival at the Vat Phou boat, we help you to your cabins and then serve lunch on deck.

After lunch, the highlight of the afternoon is the Vat Phou ruins – the majestic pre-Angkorian 10th century temple complex and boat’s namesake. You have time to visit the museum at the ruins site, walk up to the highest temple and take as many photos as you like.

Vat Phou or Wat Phu is a ruined Khmer temple complex and is located at the base of mount Phu Kao, some 6 km from the Mekong River in Champasak province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries.

As dusk falls, we transfer you back to the Vat Phou boat for a chance to enjoy the tropical sunset on deck. Dinner is served on board, while the boat docks for the night alongside a remote Laotian village.

Day 6: Vat Phou Cruise (B/L/D)

Breakfast is on board as we set sail for the village of Ban Houei Thamo. This is a small village a few minutes walk away from the mysterious hidden forest temple of Oum Moung, an Angkorian temple near to Wat Phou. It was built in the 13th or 14th century, probably as a resthouse for visitors to Wat Phou. Afterwards we rejoin the boat to continue our cruise southwards.

Lunch is served on the deck, while leisurely sailing closer to the wild paradise of the “4,000 islands”. Late afternoon we disembark from the boat to walk through Ban Dua Tae, a small Lao Loum village where the traditional way of life has not changed in centuries. Our day’s cruise finishes at the most northern tip of Don Khong Island, the largest inhabited island in the river archipelago. After dinner, the evening is yours to relax and enjoy.

Day 7: Vat Phou / Luang Prabang (B/L/-)

While you breakfast on deck, the Vat Phou boat cruises to the small village of Ban Dong Veuthong where you board a small boat to meander among the 4,000 Islands to Don Khone Island. You will visit the old French railway and walk across the bridge that links Don Khone and Don Det Islands.

We continue on the boat back to the mainland for lunch at a local restaurant in the small fishing village of Ban Xieng Di, on the banks of the Mekong. A bus transfers you to the historically significant Khong Pha Pheng waterfall, “the Niagara of the East”, close to the Cambodian border. We then bring you back to Pakse for the end of the cruise experience, arriving around 4pm. Pick up at the pier and transfer to the airport for flight to Luang Prabang.

Meet upon arrival at the airport and transfer to the hotel.

Day 8: Luang Prabang (B/-/-)

This morning you will rise early and participate in the daily early morning ritual of saffron-clad monks with their black alms bowls being given offerings from the local people, including the ubiquitous sticky rice.

Return to the hotel for breakfast. Afterwards visit the Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre which is a new museum interested in the ethnic cultures of Laos. After a chance to look around the exhibits and a Lao coffee in their café, visit Vat Visoun, the site of an impressive stupa and That Makmo which is stylistically more Srilankalese than Lao. Then walk to the nearby Vat Aham, which is one of the city’s major tutelary shrines. Climb Vat Phousi hill for an outstanding view over the city.

This afternoon visit Vat Xieng Thong, considered the most beautiful temple in Luang Prabang. The sim of the Vat represents the classic Luang Prabang temple architecture with roofs that sweep low to the ground. Then stroll through the lively Central Market where the ethnic minorities of the surroundings come daily to trade their goods. Sunset will be enjoyed at Vat Phrabat Tai located along the Mekong River.

Day 9: Luang Prabang (B/-/-)

In the morning visit the National Museum (the former King’s Palace) displaying a collection of personal artefacts of the Royal Family. Then board a traditional boat for a trip upstream on the Mekong River to visit the famous caves of Pak Ou housing thousands of statues representing Lord Buddha.

Return to Luang Prabang by boat and continue by car to visit Ban Phanom, a weaving village populated by Thai Lu that originally came from Sipsongpanna in Southern China.

Day 10: Luang Prabang (B/-/-)

Today you have the whole day at leisure to explore the city further on your own, maybe do some final bits of souvenir shopping or simply chill out with a BeerLao and watch the world go by.

Day 11: Departure (B/-/-)

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Pick up at the hotel and transfer to Luang Prabang airport for departure flight.