3 nights, 4 days · LA-LPQ-3N

Luang Prabang Highlights — Three Nights, With the Alms Round

Three nights, which is what the dawn alms round actually needs. The town on foot, a private boat to the Pak Ou caves, Tak Bat at sunrise and Kuang Si after breakfast.

  1. Luang Prabang 3 nights

Where you sleep

The hotels, named

3-star

  • Luang Prabang Treasure Hotel Laos Deluxe · 3 nights

4-star

  • Luang Prabang Le Bel Air Resort Luang Prabang Garnier · 3 nights

5-star

  • Luang Prabang Pullman Luang Prabang Deluxe · 3 nights

Hotels are held at the time of confirmation. If one is full we will offer a like-for-like alternative and tell you what it does to the price before you pay anything.

Day by day

What happens, and when

  1. Day 1 Land at Luang Prabang Airport to hotel — 4 km, about 10 minutes
    • Met at the airport Private transfer to your hotel. No guide today and nothing scheduled — the flight in is usually a connection and it is a long one.
    • The peninsula on foot If you land early, the old town is a kilometre end to end and walking it is the best possible introduction.
    • The night market Sisavangvong road closes at dusk for hill-tribe textiles, lanterns and a food lane. Packs away by ten.

    Night in Luang Prabang.

  2. Day 2 The town, and the Mekong to Pak Ou About 25 km by road and 2 hours each way by boat
    • The morning market Not a tourist market — dried buffalo skin, live chickens, river fish and hill-tribe weaving, at the hour local people actually shop.
    • Wat Mai and the Royal Palace Museum The most richly decorated temple in town, then the king's house as it was left in 1975.
    • Wat Xieng Thong The 1560 royal temple and the finest building in Laos. The Tree of Life mosaic is on the rear wall.
    • Pak Ou caves, by private boat Two hours up the Mekong to a pair of limestone caves holding several thousand Buddha images left by pilgrims over four centuries.
    • Ban Xang Hai and Ban Xang Khong Working villages on the way back — rice whisky at one, handmade paper and weaving at the other.

    Second night in Luang Prabang.

  3. Day 3 Tak Bat at dawn, then Kuang Si About 60 km, and a very early start
    • The alms round Up before sunrise for Tak Bat. Your guide arranges the rice properly the night before if you want to give, and briefs you on where to stand if you would rather watch.
    • Back to bed, then breakfast The ceremony is over by about half past six. Nothing is scheduled until after breakfast.
    • Kuang Si Falls Turquoise water over white limestone in pools you can swim in. The colour is a dry-season effect; between June and September it runs brown and hard.
    • The Sun Bear rescue centre At the entrance to the falls, run for bears taken out of the wildlife trade. Twenty minutes, and worth them.
    • Ock Pop Tok weaving centre A fair-trade weaving house on the way back, where the looms are working rather than staged.

    Third night in Luang Prabang.

  4. Day 4 A slow morning, and out Airport transfer, 10 minutes
    • The peninsula again Most people spend the last morning walking the streets they rushed past on the first day.
    • Transfer to Luang Prabang airport Driver only. Tour ends here.

    Tour ends after the transfer.

What it costs

The price, in full

per person · the more of you, the less each

Two of you, twin sharing 32,500 each

Clean, central and unremarkable. The money goes on the touring, the guide and the train rather than the room.

Per person prices for 3-star hotels by party size and room type
Travelling Single One room to yourself Twin sharing Two sharing a room Triple sharing Three sharing a room
1 adult 56,500
2 adults 38,500 32,500
3 adults 32,500 26,500
4 adults 29,500 23,500
5 adults 29,000 22,500
6 adults 28,000 21,500
7 adults 27,000 20,500
8 adults 26,000 20,000
9 adults 26,000 20,000

Children

  • Under 5 — free, sharing your room.
  • 5 to 11 sharing your bed — 70% of the adult fare for your party size.
  • 5 to 11 with a bed of their own — 90% of the adult fare for your party size.
  • 12 and over counts as an adult and takes the rates above.

The price

What is in it, and what is not

Included

  • 3 nights at the hotels named above, or a like-for-like alternative agreed with you first.
  • Breakfast every day at the hotels named above, or a like-for-like alternative agreed with you first.
  • All transfers and touring in a private air-conditioned vehicle, sized to your party.
  • A local English-speaking guide on every touring day.
  • Entrance fees at every site on the itinerary — there is no gate you pay for yourself.
  • Bottled water in the vehicle throughout.
  • All Lao government tax and service charge.
  • The private boat on the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves.

Not included

  • Flights. Nothing flies non-stop from India, so we quote the connection from your city separately.
  • Your Laos visa on arrival. Carry two photographs and the fee in US dollars, in cash.
  • Lunches and dinners except where the day says otherwise, and anything you drink.
  • Travel insurance.
  • Tips for the guide and driver. The supplier sets these and they are compulsory — see the terms below.
  • Early check-in and late check-out.
  • Optional excursions, including the dawn alms round where it is not already in the itinerary.
  • Anything added once you are there.

Small print

Before you book

When you can travel

These rates hold for arrivals between 1 June and 30 September 2026. That is the green season: warm, wet in the afternoon, at its greenest, and roughly a third cheaper than the same trip in January. Kuang Si runs brown rather than turquoise in these months, which is the honest trade you are making. Ask and we will quote the November-to-February version.

Tips are compulsory and set by the supplier

Not a gratuity you decide on — the operator fixes it and collects it. USD 5 per person per day for a party of one or two, USD 4 for three to six, USD 3 for seven to ten, USD 2.50 above that. We show it in your quote rather than letting it appear at the end of the trip.

Cancelling

Free up to 21 days before you arrive. Inside 21 days, and for a no-show, the full amount is charged. Payment falls due before the free-cancellation window closes.

Rooms and timings

Check-in is 2pm and check-out around noon. If a named hotel is unavailable when you book we propose an equivalent in the same category before taking your money, never after. Tell us about meal preferences at the time of booking — vegetarian and Jain need a day of notice here, not an hour.

The alms round

Tak Bat is a religious observance, not a performance, and this itinerary treats it as one. Watch from across the street, stay lower than the monks, no flash and no close photographs of faces. If you want to give alms your guide arranges the rice through the temple rather than from a street hawker — the hawker rice is the thing local people ask visitors not to buy.

Rather talk it through first?

Book above if you are ready. If you would rather check something first — a different date, an extra night, a hotel you had in mind — tell us and we will put the exact price in writing before you pay anything.