📍 Where we stayed: Merry Riverside Hotel
🌟 Things to do: Explore the UNESCO World Heritage City and temples, Kuang Si Falls, Living Land Farm, climb Mount Phousi
🍽️ Favourite restaurants: Bamboo Garden Restaurant, BOUANG Asian Eatery, Khaiphaen
Luang Prabang is a quaint UNESCO town, and a popular spot for tourists who venture from North Thailand. It is easy to fly into Luang Prabang International Airport directly from major cities in the region. With its stunning architecture, temples, pristine nature and South East Asia’s largest river running through, it is easy to see why Luang Prabang is one of, if not, the top spot to visit in Laos.
Our 3 day Luang Prabang itinerary covers a lot of ground, but with so much to do, you can easily stay longer!
🚍 How to Get There
- From Thailand: Travel to Luang Prabang by bus, or train (Bangkok via Vientiane) book either option via 12go, water (slow-boat) or air (see below).
- If you are considering the 2-day slow boat (Chiang Rai > Pak Beng > Luang Prabang) from North Thailand, read about our journey here (factor the time into your journey, we at MSL highly recommend this mesmeric route).
- From Vietnam: Take a bus from Hanoi direct to Luang Prabang, however this is a 26 hour plus undertaking, if possible fly (see below) and avoid the grief.
- From Cambodia: No direct route unless flying (see below).
- Fly: Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ) flights from major cities in the region as well as internal flights.
Day 1
Since you would have just arrived, we recommend taking a stroll around the bustling night market area. Once you get to the night market, you can wander through the many stalls of arts & crafts, and local street food. Have dinner at BOUANG Asian Eatery on the street adjacent to the market – we recommend their green curry gnocchi!
Day 2
We woke up at 6am on our first day to watch the sunrise after climbing up Mount Phousi. This is a beautiful temple complex, and the views from the top are worth the effort! Many people head up to the temple for sunset, but we wanted to miss the crowds. If you prefer, book a heritage tour which includes the Royal Palace, temples and climbing Mount Phousi. On the way back down, take time to visit the rest of the complex, you will discover the ‘Budda’s footprint’!
We headed back to Merry Riverside Hotel for a well-deserved breakfast on their balcony overlooking the beautiful Mekong river. If you would prefer to remain near Phousi Hill, we recommend eating breakfast at Family Bakery & Restaurant – their food and bakery items are delicious!
After breakfast, head to the UXO Lao Visitor Center – this museum educates visitors on the devastation Laos suffered in the Second Indochina War, and how the unexploded bombs and mines still impact people today. It is free entry, although a donation is appreciated. On the way, make a detour to the nearby Wat That Luang and Wat Manorom if you are interested in visiting some quieter, local temples.
Hop in a taxi or walk over to the most popular temple, Wat Xiengthong, and wander around the complex admiring the complex architecture. If you prefer to save time, you can pre-book a tour that takes you to the most popular heritage sights and includes climbing up Mount Phousi.
End your evening by supporting a good cause and having dinner at Khaiphaen. Khaiphaen is a restaurant with a food and hospitality program to train students from the surrounding villages of Luang Prabang. It is reasonably priced and you can guarantee a meal that your taste buds will enjoy!
Day 3
After breakfast, we were picked up by tuk tuk to take us on our pre-booked tour to Living Land Farm. We loved our time learning how to grow rice, it is a hands-on and fun experience in the most serene surroundings. Living Land Farm is an entirely organic farm and a community enterprise, run by a local team and for the benefit of Lao people. The farm supplies produce to restaurants and hotels in Luang Prabang. After your experience, you can opt to have an outstanding vegetarian lunch at the farm whilst taking in the views (we did and would recommend it!). Otherwise, we recommend heading back to town and try local cuisine at Bamboo Garden Restaurant.
In the evening, enjoy a sunset river cruise and dinner on the Mekong River – whilst the views are incredible, there were some lovely surprises too, I won’t give them away!
If you have more days in Luang Prabang, or want to create your own Luang Prabang itinerary, we recommend the below experiences:
- Garden of Eden – we spent a few hours here relaxing over the river Mekong whilst making our own jewellery at a very affordable price!
- Craft your own Aroma Candle in local pottery
- Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls – our slow-boat cruise included Pak Ou Caves.
- Cooking class on the Mekong River – we loved our experience, we had a guided tour of the local market in the morning, and were lucky it was just us, so we had the boat and class to ourselves – the views and atmosphere were worth it alone!
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