Laos runs on river time.
Which Kuang Si run beats the tour buses. Whether the two-day slow boat earns its hours. What a balloon over the karsts really costs. Every tour in Laos, reviewed and ranked.
A Kuang Si morning, a cave river, or a balloon over Vang Vieng?
Three very different ways to spend the best hours of a Lao day. Most itineraries have room for two of them.
Kuang Si before the buses arrive
The travertine pools sit an hour from Luang Prabang and turn opal blue by mid morning. Early runs get you swimming almost alone; afternoon loops trade crowds for softer light and a sunset cruise home.
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Tham Nam by tube, Blue Lagoon after
Vang Vieng’s classic circuit: pull yourself through a river cave on a rope line, kayak a stretch of the Nam Song, and finish under the cliff at Phoukham’s lagoon.
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A balloon over the karsts at first light
Vang Vieng floats balloons over limestone karst nearly every clear morning. Baskets are small and slots are weather-picked, so the calendar decides more than you do.
See all 7 →Luang Prabang, between two rivers.
The old town sits on a peninsula where the Nam Khan meets the Mekong: gilded wats, shophouse cafes, monks filing past in silence at first light. Most of Laos’s best days start here, and the good ones fill up first.
In Laos, the Mekong is the road.
Half the country still moves by boat. Sunset cruises idle beneath Phousi hill, longtails run upriver to Pak Ou, and the two-day slow boat from the Thai border at Huay Xai is still the classic way to arrive in Luang Prabang.
The days Laos travellers book first.
Every review →The tours more travellers take than anything else in Laos, led by the river day that pairs Pak Ou’s caves with an afternoon at Kuang Si.
1
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
Mekong cruise to Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Falls from Luang Prabang, with whisky tasting, buffet lunch, and sunset options.
From · $48
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2
Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
from $52
3
Kayaking & Cave Tubing with Zip Line/Blue Lagoon
from $30
4
Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)
from $40
5
UNESCO World Heritage City Highlights Tour
from $35
6
Namxay Viewpoint, Blue Lagoon 1 & Phoukham Cave
from $29
7
Afternoon Kuang Si Waterfalls & Sunset Cruise
from $35
8
Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony
from $51
In Laos, $30 buys a full day.
Every tour on the site, sorted by what it actually costs. The bottom rung here is a whole day out, not an entry ticket.
Temple walks, market mornings, cave circuits and kayak runs. Most of Vang Vieng’s classics live down here.
The signature days: Kuang Si with a sunset cruise, Pak Ou by longtail, cooking evenings that end in a baci.
Balloon flights, private drivers and multi-day slow-boat runs where the fare covers the nights.
Vang Vieng grew out of its party years.
The karst country around the Nam Song is now the adventure capital of Laos: lagoon circuits, zip line courses, kayak runs, viewpoint hikes and balloons overhead at every clear dawn. The tubing-bar era is history; the landscape was always the point.
- 1Kayaking & Cave Tubing with Zip Line/Blue Lagoonfrom $30
- 2Namxay Viewpoint, Blue Lagoon 1 & Phoukham Cavefrom $29
- 3Tham Nangfar and Tham Nam Day Tour with Kayakingfrom $24
Laos keeps these to itself.
Waterfalls and night markets you can find across the region. A cave of thousands of Buddhas, a blessing tied on in cotton string, and a railway that shrank a whole country belong to Laos.
The Caves of a Thousand Buddhas
Two limestone chambers above the Mekong hold thousands of Buddha figures, left by pilgrims over centuries because a damaged Buddha cannot simply be thrown away. The ride is half the point: 25 kilometres upriver by longtail, with the lao-lao whisky village of Ban Xang Hai waiting on the way back.
- 1Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,769 reviews
- 2Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,360 reviews
- 3Half Day Mekong Cruise to Pak Ou Caves (Morning / Afternoon)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 290 reviews
The Baci Ceremony
Before a journey, a wedding or a new season, Lao families call the wandering spirits home with a baci: chants around a marigold centrepiece, then white cotton strings tied at your wrists for luck. Several Luang Prabang cooking evenings close with one, and travellers wear the strings for days afterwards.
- 1Evening Cooking Class & Local Baci Ceremony★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 151 reviews
- 2Bamboo Weaving Workshop & Cooking Class★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 96 reviews
- 3Cooking Class at the Former Royal Palace★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 51 reviews
The Railway That Shrank Laos
Until 2021, Laos had barely three kilometres of track. The Laos-China Railway redrew the map overnight: Vientiane to Vang Vieng in about an hour, Luang Prabang in two, through tunnels that swallow whole ridgelines. Seats sell out days ahead, and every itinerary in the country now bends around the timetable.
- 1Laos Railway Tickets Easily: Avoid Long Queues & Wasted Time★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 14 reviews
- 2Laos Railway: Train Tickets Easily – Skip the Lines – No worries★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 9 reviews
- 3Vientiane Private Transfer: Wattay Airport -Hotel-Railway Station★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 9 reviews
Vientiane pairs gold stupas with concrete gods.
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Time Laos by the river, not the calendar.
November to March is the sweet spot: cool mornings, blue-sky balloon weather, Kuang Si still brimming from the rains. April turns hot and hazy. May to October is the green season, when storms pass inside an hour, the pools can run milky after a downpour, and the Mekong runs high and quick under the slow boats.
By town, down the country
Luang Prabang98 tours
Vang Vieng32 tours
Vientiane34 tours- Every tour in Laos →
The slow-boat route, Thai border to Buddha Park.
The slow boat
Luang Prabang
Kuang Si
Vang Vieng
Vientiane
Buddha ParkThe latest Laos tour reviews.
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Luang Prabang Foodie Walking Tour and Monk Blessing
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3 Days The Plain of Jars and Xieng Khouan (Depart from Luang Prabang)
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Luang Prabang Early Morning Alms Giving and Wet Market
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China Railway: Easy Train Tickets, No Queues, No Worries
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Luang Prabang Local Market and Morning Food Tour with Drinks
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