2 Weeks Backpacking Laos – Itinerary – TREKwithBECK

A incredible 2 week itinerary backpacking from Northern to Southern Laos. This itinerary is a bit quick paced, but it allows you to see the main backpacking attractions that Laos has to offer. Laos is such a beautiful country, with incredible food, people and nature. This was one of the places I felt I was closest to seeing ‘untouched places’. The country is very easy to get around and I felt very safe as a solo female traveller.

There are a few places I would have loved to spend more time, and I will note that in the itinerary! If you are looking to see the main sights and not explore the whole country, I would recommend spending most of your time in Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Nong Khiaw. You can also link this itinerary with my two week Northern Thailand itinerary, which can be found here.

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How to get to Laos

There are two ways you can get into Laos, either you have to catch a flight or the slow boat. If you catch a flight you can fly into either Luang Prabang or Vientiane. This itinerary does start in Luang Prabang, as I think is the best spot to start off your Laos adventures! However you can also fly into Vientiane and bus/train to Luang Prabang. If you do this, you will need another day or two for this itinerary.

I always use Skyscanner, to help me find cheap flights on my travels!

If you want to catch the Slow boat into Laos from Northern Thailand, you can read my blog here about how to do this. You can also read my review about ‘Nagi of Mekong tours’, if you want the more VIP experience like I did.

How to Travel Around Laos

The most common ways to travel around Laos are by minivan, bus, flying or train. A lot of these types of transport can be booked through the 12go Asia website. The cheapest ways are by minivan or bus, however these are the longest. I would recommend taking the train from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, then catching buses the rest of the way. This will make the travel days much shorter and allow you to spend more time in your destination.

I have discussed ways to get from each place to the next in this itinerary!

Day 1 – 3 Luang Prabang

You’ll start off this itinerary strong, with either flying or taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang, from Thailand. This was one of my favourite places in all of Laos and I would recommend spending more time here than 3 days if you have a few days to spare! Here make sure you go and visit the Kuang Si Waterfall, which is just spectacular. Other places of interest are the Tad Sae Waterfall, Phousi hill and observing the giving Alms Ceremony.

Most of these activities can be organised via a tour from your accommodation, or sights like Viator. You can also choose to rent a scooter and explore these places yourself. However, due to the road conditions in Laos, I would recommend this to only experienced scooter drivers.

Day 4 – 7 Nong Khiaw

The next few days your are going to spend getting back in touch with nature, hiking and exploring hidden waterfalls! Nong Khiaw is a very relaxed place in Laos and you can easily spend a days just relaxing by the river here. A couple of the top sights I recommend you visit are, the 100 waterfalls hike (only if you have a few days) and visit the viewpoints! Nong Khiaw viewpoint has some of the most incredible views I have seen this trip.

You can find 8 things to do in Nong khiaw, by reading my blog post here.

There is only one way to get to Nong Khiaw, and that its by minivan. You can book this on 12go Asia, and I recommend getting to the station early. This is so you can secure a good seat in the minivan, otherwise you might be left with a stool which is classified as a ‘seat’. It takes about 3 hours to get to Nong Khiaw, and the roads are not very well maintained. A common theme in Laos. These mini vans will cost about $14 AUD.

A ‘seat’

Day 7 – 10 Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng comes in to my second most favourite places to visit on this Laos itinerary. There is so much more to do here besides party (it is renown as a party town). Not being much of a drinker myself, I skipped the tipsy tubing and rented a buggy to explore the natural parts of Vang Vieng. This buggy cost me $90 AUD for 9 hours, and I explored all the lagoons, plus several viewpoints.

Vang Vieng is full of backpackers, so it’s a great place to be social – it is also a great place to experience nature! I recommend making sure you visit Nam Xay Viewpoint, Horkham Viewpoint and Blue Lagoon 3. You can read my blog here, which recommends 5 things to see or do in Vang Vieng.

There is only one way to get back south from Nong Khiaw and that is via the same minivan that you came here in. Currently, you cannot book these tickets online and have to book them in person, either at your accommodation or at the station. A ticket will cost 100,000 Kip, which will take you to the Luang Prabang bus terminal.

WARNING – There is an ongoing scam with these minivans, that they will drop you at the old Northern Terminal and the driver will ask for 70,000 more kip to take you to the southern terminal (the one in town). This station is quite out of town, and if you refuse you will be kicked out of the van and forced to take a tuk tuk for 40,000 Kip. Best way to avoid this is to ask the driver which station you are heading to prior to leaving.

From Luang Prabang you have two options to get to Vang Vieng, you can either catch a bus or the train. I recommend the train as it is only a few dollars more and takes 55mins, compared to 4+ hours.

Catching the train is very easy, but you do need to book your tickets in advance. You can either book them using the LCR ticket app, at the train station or your accommodation in Luang Prabang. If you use the app you will need to have a Lao phone number, and it doesn’t seem to work well on IOS. You can also book them on 12go Asia or book away. They will book the tickets and seats for you, its costs a bit more then booking at the station.

Day 11 Vientiane

Vientiane is the capital of Laos, and I will say I wasn’t a big fan of this place. It is generally just a city, there are a few things you can do such as markets and some temples – but it isn’t anything very note worthy. The main reason I stopped here for a night was to break up my travel days, which meant I didn’t have to catch a train then overnight bus! There are some nice restaurants in this city, so It is worth only a short visit.

There are two ways you can get to Vientiane from Vang Vieng, Minivan or Train. Again, I recommend the train as it is much quicker and comfortable than the minivans. These can be booked at your accomodation or on 12go Asia. A mini van will cost you around $25 AUD and take roughly 6 hours. A train in second class will cost around $30 AUD and take 50 minutes.

Day 12 -14 Pakse

I felt very much like a tourist in Pakse! There were very limited tourists in this area, and felt like there were very few travellers at my hostel. I come here especially to do the Tad Fane Waterfall zipline and have a coffee 300m above the air! I am an adrenaline junkie and this was such a unique experience I had to do it. There are plenty of beautiful waterfalls and hikes around Pakse, so this is another beautiful place I recommend you visit. You can also head further down and explore the Bolaven Plateau.

It will feel like a whole other world compared to Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng, where there are so many tourists hanging around! I thought it was worth heading here, but it doesn’t seem many backpackers do – most spend their time in the North. So if you are looking to be super social, this may not be the place for you!

There are two ways to Pakse from Vientiane, by flight or overnight bus. I took the overnight bus as it was the cheaper option – and actually quite comfortable! But if you don’t want to spend 14+ hours on a bus, I would recommend taking a flight. This will cost you anyways between $150-$300 AUD.

The overnight bus is fairly straight forward to catch, you can book this at your accommodation or online on 12go Asia. There is a catch with these overnight buses though, you will have to share with a stranger if you are travelling alone! Alternatively, you can book two beds like I did and have the whole space to yourself. This is a bit more costly though, but it made the journey so much more comfortable.

Two beds cost me about $50 AUD, it would be fine to share a bed with a friend or a partner! The beds are quite small, and you get two blankets & a small snack package.

Day 15 – Onward Travel

You will need to make your way back to Vientiane if you are planning on catching a flight out from there, this will be via the night bus again or you might be able to catch a flight from Pakse airport. If you are planning to keep travelling through South East Asia, you can easily get a bus from Pakse to Cambodia or Vietnam!

Conclusion

I had very little thoughts and feelings about Laos, it wasn’t somewhere I was extremely excited to visit on my travels – but it BLEW me away. Laos quickly became one of my favourite countries, the food, people and unique experiences all added to this. It has a very nice energy, like most South East Asian countries. But particular places in Laos made it feel like I was the first person to experience it and I was able to have places to myself – instead of flooded with tourists. I think this is very rare with travelling today, so this was a very nice touch and has left me with beautiful memories of Laos.

You should definitely visit here!

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