Tours in Laos

Start in Luang Prabang, early, before the heat settles. Monks in orange walk the main street with their bowls, locals kneel on mats to give rice, and the whole town moves slowly enough that you can hear it. Then take a bike down one of the back lanes and the picture changes. Stilted houses, looms under the eaves, a market where people are shopping for dinner and not for you. This is the Laos most itineraries skip, and it is where a day goes furthest.

The old town sits on a narrow peninsula where the Mekong meets the Nam Khan, and it is easy to cover on foot or two wheels. Climb Mount Phousi for the view over the rooftops and the river. Wander into Wat Xieng Thong and the Royal Palace Museum. Look for the weavers, whose silk work is still made by hand, and for the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, which helps explain how many different peoples live in this country. Our biking tour links these together, and it also takes in an elephant sanctuary outside town.

Beyond Luang Prabang, the country opens up in both directions. Vientiane, the capital, is a calm riverside city of temples, cafes and evening food stalls along the Mekong. Down south, the Bolaven Plateau is coffee and waterfalls, and further on the Four Thousand Islands drift lazily in the river. Up north, Luang Namtha and Nong Khiaw are for trekking, kayaking and long views over limestone peaks. The Plain of Jars and Vang Vieng are the other names you will hear again and again.

We only sell one tour here for now, but Laos is much bigger than that. If you want a guide for Vientiane, the Bolaven Plateau, a trek in the north or anywhere else, ask. A local guide can take the request and shape a day around it.