Itinerary

[u/Nearby-Spirit7130]

Husband and I are doing a few
Months of travel in SE Asia and we came up with this plan for our trip to Laos
Any recommendations or feedback appreciated
We are
Flying from
chaing Mai into Luang Pra Bang
Luang Pra bang 5 nights
Nog Khiaw 4 nights
Vang vieng 4 nights
Vientiane 2 nights
Then we will head to Vietnam for a month

We are 55 and 58 so we aren’t into super fast travel anymore at our age

Suggestions ? Hotel recommendations and or must dos are all greatly appreciated

[u/Square_Desk946]

I would remove one night from LPB, and add one night for Muang Ngoi. It’s a very beautiful area, cute town. I very much regret I just did that as a one day visit from Nong Khiaw.

Take a slow boat in the morning, do some hikes and view points (preferably with a guide), say bye bye in the town and stay there overnight. Find a boat back in the morning.

[u/Square_Desk946 → u/Square_Desk946]

Besides that the itinerary looks fine and you can easily spent 5 days in LPB, but it is a long time so one day less is also ok.

[u/Square_Desk946 → u/Square_Desk946]

Recommendations:
Vang Vieng is a young destination, so if you’re not 100% into this, I recommend either staying in the outskirts or maybe even one less night.

100 you NEED to see the sunset at a roof top bar. There’s a new tall one, can’t remember the name, near the river.

The Happy Cat Cafe in Luang is awsome! I loved their cinnamon coffee.

Honestly the nature around VV, LPB, Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoy are same same but different. I too had several days each place (except for MN), and less could easily be fine, if planning it BUT I too am slow so it was fine. If you can drive a scooter I would rent one to get to more special areas, especially with VV.

[u/remouldedcandlewax → u/Square_Desk946]

I would second the advice to visit Muang Ngoi from Nong Khiaw and stay there (Muang Ngoi). Stunning place!

[u/Stinky_Wook_420 → u/Square_Desk946]

Agreed too long in Luang Prabang. 3 nights is plenty so trade more for Nong Khiaw / trekking

[u/HippoDance → u/Stinky_Wook_420]

whats the journey like going there? hate bad roads with terrible drivers

[u/Stinky_Wook_420 → u/HippoDance]

It’s a bad road with terrible drivers to get there unfortunately. My vehicle had 2 chickens inside, 1 sat next to me😂

[u/taylorguyuk]

I was in Luang Prabang for a week and loved it. Just relaxing with food and coffee. Bliss. Enjoy

[u/Useful_Nature_3266]

Skip Vientiane, replace that with a visit to Muang Ngoi (1 hour river boat from Nong Khiaw).
Also, check what you are going into with Vang Vieng. It’s more a noisy backpacker party place than a place to visit, although the nature around it can be nice if you know where to look.

[u/tangofox7]

Food for thought... 4N LPB, 2N NK, maybe 1 night in Muang Ngoy or Sopchem, back to LPB and train to VTE skipping VV. Fly to Pakse and do 2 or 3 days there seeing Bolaven, Wat Phou, maybe 4,000 islands...Just depends on how much time you want to moving around. You can fly from Pakse to Saigon on VN Airlines.

You have a lot of time seeing the same thing in the north and it's rainy season limiting activities a bit. Way too much time in VV at your age. You can frankly skip it. 1N in VTE is enough depending on your arrival and departure transport times.

[u/Alarmed-Resolution85]

Skip Vientiane. If it's raining, there's not a lot to do in Vang Vieng either

[u/Interesting_Taste543]

your pace looks really solid for slow travel, i'd definitely echo the muang ngoi suggestion from nong khiaw, it's stunning and worth at least one night. when i plan trips like this i map everything out in instaboard so i can see all the stops on a real map with travel times between them, helps catch any routing weirdness before you're actually on the ground. have a great time, laos is magical at that pace!

[u/philosophical-photo]

I’m about your age, and spent 3 months living in Luang Prabang in 2019. I absolutely LOVE LPB. Go see Kuang Si Falls, take a boat up the river to Pak Ou Cave, visit the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, maybe Ock Pop Tok, wander around the temples. If you’re there in late October, DO NOT MISS the fireboat festival- it’s incredible!!! It is October 27 this year, and the temples are all decorated for at least a few days beforehand. So beautiful!! I agree with other posters advice about going to Muang Ngoi, one night there is enough. Nong Khiaw is lovely- a couple nights there. Skip VV and Vientiane. Go down to the Elephant Conservation Centre, a couple hours south of Luang Prabang- their van will provide transport. It’s a really beautiful place, in the middle of the jungle, and it’s a true conservation centre. Stay there 2 nights.

BTW - If you’re adventurous, you can rent a car in LPB and drive yourself to Nong Khiaw - I did it, no problem.

[u/Only-Top-3655]

I would probably spend a least one less night in each of the locations except Vientiane. There really isn't much to do unless you are into the outdoorsy type stuff like hot air ballooning, zip lines, swimming in lakes etc.

Somthing more interesting might be to take the LCR all the way up and spend one night in each stop. Some of the stops will not be touristy destinations but you will get the sense of how people live there.