Vientiane, in one good day
A capital of under a million people with the pace of a large town, one museum that everybody should see, and the best eating in the country.
At a glance
| Region | Central Laos, on the Mekong facing Thailand |
| Worth | 1 night, 2 if you like cities |
| Airport | Wattay, VTE, 4 km out, direct from Bangkok, Hanoi, Seoul, Kunming |
| Best months | November to February |
| Worst months | April, when it reaches 38 degrees |
| Known for | COPE, That Luang, French-Lao food, the riverfront |
What the place actually is
Vientiane is a capital city that behaves like a provincial town. Under a million people live in the whole prefecture, the traffic stops being traffic by 19:00, and the main ceremonial boulevard ends at an arch that was built with cement donated for an airport runway, which the city cheerfully tells you on a sign inside it.
It is not a beautiful city and nobody should pretend otherwise. What it has is one genuinely important museum, two temples that are worth an hour each, a riverfront that comes alive at dusk, and the best food in Laos by a distance - a mix of Lao, Vietnamese and French that exists nowhere else in the country at this quality or this price.
Most people pass through it because the airport and the railway are here. That is a perfectly good reason, and a well-used single night is the right amount for a large majority of trips.
How many nights
| Nights | What fits |
|---|---|
| 1 | COPE, Wat Si Saket, That Luang, dinner on the river. This is the standard and it works |
| 2 | Add Buddha Park downstream, the morning market, and time to eat properly |
| 3 | Only if you are waiting for a flight or you like slow city days |
The one thing we would not do is give Vientiane three nights at the expense of two in the north. It is a good city to spend an evening in and a poor one to base a holiday on.
COPE, and why we put it first
The COPE visitor centre is attached to the national rehabilitation centre and explains, in about an hour, what unexploded ordnance has done to this country and what is being done about it. There is a room of prosthetic limbs made from scrap, a hut built the way a rural house is built, and film of clearance teams working.
It is free, it is not gruesome, and it changes how you read every landscape you see afterwards - the craters at the Plain of Jars, the bomb casings used as fence posts, the reason your guide tells you not to walk off a path. If you do one thing in Vientiane, do this one.
When to come
| Months | What it is like |
|---|---|
| November - February | Dry, 18 to 30 degrees, pleasant in the evening. That Luang festival falls in November and is the best week of the year here |
| March - April | Hot, up to 38 degrees, and hazy. Pi Mai in mid-April turns the whole city into a water fight, which is either the reason to come or the reason not to |
| May - September | Wet and humid, with heavy short downpours. The Mekong fills and the riverfront is at its best |
| October | The boat racing festival at the end of the rains, and clean air |
Getting here and away
- Wattay airport is 4 km from the centre, about USD 8 by taxi, with direct flights from Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Seoul, Kunming and Singapore.
- The Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is 20 km east. There is a through train from Bangkok to Vientiane's Khamsavath station, and the crossing itself is straightforward.
- The Laos-China Railway station is 9 km northeast of the centre. Trains to Vang Vieng take an hour and to Luang Prabang under two.
- By road to Pakse is 680 km and about eleven hours. Almost everyone flies this leg, and we think they are right to.
What things cost here
| Item | Typical |
|---|---|
| Guesthouse double | USD 18 - 32 |
| Good mid-range hotel | USD 45 - 85 |
| The best hotels in the city | USD 120 - 260 |
| Bowl of khao piak or pho | USD 1.50 - 3 |
| Dinner at a good Lao or French restaurant | USD 10 - 30 |
| Wat Si Saket entrance | around USD 1.50 |
| That Luang entrance | around USD 1.50 |
| Taxi across the city | USD 3 - 6 |
Pictures
When to skip Vientiane
- If you are flying into Luang Prabang and out of it again. There is no need to add the capital for its own sake.
- If you have seven nights or fewer. Those nights are better spent north.
- In April, unless you specifically want Pi Mai, in which case come and accept that you will be soaked from morning to night for three days.
- If you dislike cities in general. Vientiane will not convert you, and there is no old town to walk in the way there is in Luang Prabang.
Tours that go here
- Laos highlights, 10 days - finishes here with a night and a full afternoon.
- North to south, 15 days - two nights, then the flight south.
- Thakhek loop, 4 days - can start and finish here.
Questions travellers ask most
Is one night really enough?
For most trips, yes. COPE, one or two temples and a good dinner fits comfortably into an afternoon and an evening.
Two nights make sense if you arrive late, if you want Buddha Park, or if you are catching an early flight and would rather not rush.
What should we eat?
Khao piak sen for breakfast, larb and grilled river fish for dinner, and a baguette from a street cart at some point because the bread here is genuinely good.
The riverfront night market is fun rather than excellent. The food is better on the side streets a block back.
Can we do a day trip from here?
Buddha Park, 25 km downstream, is the standard half day and is worth it - a field of concrete Hindu and Buddhist sculptures made by a mystic in the 1950s.
Vang Vieng is now close enough by train to be technically possible as a day trip, and it is a bad idea. Stay the night.
Is it safe to walk around at night?
Yes, in the central area and along the river. Vientiane has a low rate of violent crime and the usual advice about bags and phones applies as it would anywhere.
Pavements are uneven and unlit in places. A torch on your phone is more useful than any security precaution.
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