3-star
- Luang Prabang Treasure Hotel Laos Deluxe · 2 nights
- Vientiane Family Boutique Hotel Vientiane Superior · 2 nights
4 nights, 5 days · LA-CLASSIC-4N
Classic Laos — Luang Prabang and Vientiane by Rail
Four nights and both halves of Laos, joined by the new high-speed line. Luang Prabang, the Pak Ou caves and Kuang Si, then the capital for Wat Sisaket, That Luang and Buddha Park.
- Luang Prabang 2 nights
- Vientiane 2 nights
Where you sleep
The hotels, named
4-star
- Luang Prabang Le Bel Air Resort Luang Prabang Garnier · 2 nights
- Vientiane Eastin Hotel Vientiane Superior Balcony · 2 nights
5-star
- Luang Prabang Pullman Luang Prabang Deluxe · 2 nights
- Vientiane Amari Vientiane Deluxe City View · 2 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
-
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.
-
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.
-
Day 3 Kuang Si, then the train south About 60 km by road, then 2 hours by rail
- 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.
- Luang Prabang railway station The afternoon high-speed train to Vientiane. Two hours through mountain country that used to take a full day by road.
- Met at Vientiane station Private transfer into the city centre and your hotel.
Night in Vientiane.
-
Day 4 The capital, and Buddha Park About 60 km with the run out to the park
- Wat Sisaket The oldest surviving temple in the city and the one building left standing in 1828, with several thousand small Buddha images in the cloister wall.
- Haw Pha Kaeo The former royal temple that once held the Emerald Buddha, now the national museum of religious art.
- The COPE centre A small, careful museum about unexploded ordnance and the prosthetics programme for people injured by it. An hour, and the honest half of the Laos story.
- Patuxai Vientiane's arch, finished in 1968 with cement the United States had supplied for an airport runway. Climb it for the view over the city.
- Pha That Luang The golden stupa on the national emblem and the most important monument in the country. Best in the late afternoon light.
- Buddha Park Twenty-five kilometres out by the Friendship Bridge — two hundred concrete Buddhist and Hindu sculptures in a riverside meadow, built from 1958 by a priest-shaman with his own ideas about both. Sunset over the Mekong to finish.
Second night in Vientiane.
-
Day 5 Home from the capital Airport transfer, about 15 minutes
- Breakfast, then Wattay airport Driver only, no guide. 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 ₹47,000 each
Clean, central and unremarkable. The money goes on the touring, the guide and the train rather than the room.
| Travelling | Single One room to yourself | Twin sharing Two sharing a room | Triple sharing Three sharing a room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 adult | ₹80,000 | — | — |
| 2 adults | ₹56,000 | ₹47,000 | — |
| 3 adults | ₹48,000 | ₹39,000 | — |
| 4 adults | ₹44,000 | ₹35,000 | — |
| 5 adults | ₹43,000 | ₹34,000 | — |
| 6 adults | ₹42,000 | ₹33,000 | — |
| 7 adults | ₹40,500 | ₹31,500 | — |
| 8 adults | ₹39,000 | ₹30,500 | — |
| 9 adults | ₹39,000 | ₹30,500 | — |
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.
Two of you, twin sharing ₹52,500 each
The tier most people book. Proper hotels in the right part of each town, with a pool where the building allows one.
| Travelling | Single One room to yourself | Twin sharing Two sharing a room | Triple sharing Three sharing a room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 adult | ₹91,000 | — | — |
| 2 adults | ₹67,000 | ₹52,500 | — |
| 3 adults | ₹59,000 | ₹44,500 | — |
| 4 adults | ₹55,000 | ₹40,500 | — |
| 5 adults | ₹53,500 | ₹39,500 | — |
| 6 adults | ₹52,500 | ₹38,000 | — |
| 7 adults | ₹51,000 | ₹37,000 | — |
| 8 adults | ₹50,000 | ₹36,000 | — |
| 9 adults | ₹50,000 | ₹36,000 | — |
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.
Two of you, twin sharing ₹60,000 each
The best rooms in each place — the Pullman in Luang Prabang and the Amari in the capital are the two genuinely good hotels in the country.
| Travelling | Single One room to yourself | Twin sharing Two sharing a room | Triple sharing Three sharing a room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 adult | ₹1,06,000 | — | — |
| 2 adults | ₹82,000 | ₹60,000 | — |
| 3 adults | ₹74,000 | ₹52,000 | — |
| 4 adults | ₹69,500 | ₹48,000 | — |
| 5 adults | ₹68,500 | ₹46,500 | — |
| 6 adults | ₹67,500 | ₹45,500 | — |
| 7 adults | ₹66,000 | ₹44,000 | — |
| 8 adults | ₹65,000 | ₹43,000 | — |
| 9 adults | ₹65,000 | ₹43,000 | — |
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
- 4 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.
- Every train seat on the itinerary, booked and held before you travel.
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 railway
The Laos-China line opened in December 2021 and turned a day of mountain road into an hour. Seats are released a few days out and the convenient departures go first, so we hold them at the time of booking rather than at the station.
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.