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We spent almost four weeks in Luang Prabang, Laos in between two months in Krabi and two months in Chiang Mai. It’s the cutest place, the locals are very friendly, and it’s easy to get around. The old town is Unesco World Heritage protected, and it’s full of beautiful colonial architecture. Guesthouses are everywhere so it’s easy to get a room. Here are our best tips about things to do in Luang Prabang, based on our time there.
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1. Things to do in Luang Prabang: Cruise around on a bike!
We really enjoyed wandering around central Luang Prabang. It felt compact enough to walk or bike everywhere we wanted to go in the central area. Sometimes we’d walk through the central markets, visit a cafe or go for a long wander and then get a tuk tuk ride back. Tuk tuks will give you a ride anywhere you want to go.
The town is very biking-friendly and most of the guest houses are likely to have bikes available to use or rent. We enjoyed cruising around on bikes as our regular mode of transport while we were there.
2. Walk up Phou Si Hill
Walking up Mount Phousi Luang Prabang to see the sunset is definitely one of the more popular things to do in Luang Prabang. It’s centrally located, there’s a Buddhist temple there, and the views are lovely. Just leave early enough to find a spot to take in the view, because it really is popular!
You might find one or two tourist traps on your way up. When we were there people were asking tourists to pay to release birds from little cages. At first thought, this might seem like a noble thing to pay for. I certainly didn’t want to see the birds staying in those little cages.
However, we didn’t release any birds while we were up there. I believe that it perpetuates the problem. If tourists pay to release birds, they’ll keep catching more of them to release.
Phou Si hill isn’t a huge or difficult climb. If you can walk up a hill, you will be fine. It only took around 10 minutes to get to the top. Our five year old walked up, and I managed to lug my pregnant body up there in the tropical heat!
3. Things to do in Luang Prabang: The Bamboo Experience
The Bamboo Experience in Luang Prabang offers an awesome educational experience for the whole family. I loved it because bamboo is such a wonderful, versatile, and sustainable crop. It was amazing to find out about all the ways it could be used.
Their half-day workshop includes lots of fun such as a cooking class, musical performance, bamboo “dancing”, bamboo weaving session, crossbow shooting, rice preparation, and of course eating! We paid $86USD for two adults, which is a decent price point, but we felt it was well worth it for the fun and education. Ayla (age five) was free.
We really enjoyed finding out about all the things you can do with bamboo, and it was a very interactive and authentic experience. It’s done on a smaller scale than the common things to do in Luang Prabang that are offered by tour companies. We had a lot of fun and didn’t feel rushed like we did with other things that were more touristy. Overall, we think this is one of the best attractions in Luang Prabang.
4. Kuang Si Falls
Kuang Si falls is a great spot to visit in the Luang Prabang province. It’s about 35km from Luang Prabang and is definitely a popular one with tourists.
It was a lot busier than many of our outings which are usually a little more off the beaten track! I’d suspect it’s probably the most popular day trip from Luang Prabang. When you arrive in the Kuang Si falls car park it’s full of identical white minivans that have dropped off loads of people.
The minivan ride certainly made it feel like we were off the beaten track though. It’s a windy, uphill, pothole filled road to get here. It took around 45 minutes to get there. When you visit places even just a little bit outside Luang Prabang you’ll realise that the town doesn’t really paint a picture about how under-developed the rest of Laos is.
Rescue bears and the waterfall
When you first enter the park you come to the bear rescue area. When we were there we saw about six grown bears and four or five younger ones that have been rescued from poachers. It looked like they were putting in some good efforts to save them and protect the various species. It was very cute to watch them play, stretch and sleep.
The waterfall was pretty brown and very powerful. We were there just after a very rainy season, so that’s likely why. Nature trails took us to different parts of the falls and Colin and Ayla had a swim.
We much prefer getting our own transport or private driver when we can because we tend to want to spend longer than the average person at these places. Since we had to travel via minivan with all the other tourists, we felt like the visit was a little rushed for us. We still had a lovely time and would recommend Kuangsi falls for your list of things to do in Luang Prabang.
5. Pak Ou Caves
Visiting the Pak Ou Caves is another one of the popular things to do in Luang Prabang for tourists. From central Luang Prabang we traveled just over an hour (upstream) along the river by boat to reach the caves. The trip also included a 30 minute stop along the way at the local whiskey village! So overall, it was 1.5 hours to reach the caves.
As a side note, you’ll find plenty of rice whiskey to buy in Luang Prabang and most of them come complete with a scorpion or snake inside the bottle!
Once you reach the caves there’s an upper and a lower cave you can visit. The upper cave can be reached after a short hill climb, but it’s in need of restoration. The locals selling their wares here were more aggressive and persistent than the ones we came across in the markets and town. They took every opportunity to charge us for things. We paid for the boat ride and entrance fees as expected, and also toilets, “care restoration”, and a donation for Buddha…
The Pak Ou Caves are famous for the 1000 Buddha statues they supposedly contain. The lower (main) cave was nice, just very small. We enjoyed the boat trip and the journey was much faster on the way back along the fast-flowing Mekong river.
6. Nahm Dong Park
Nahm Dong Park was one of my things to do in Luang Prabang. Actually, it was probably my most favorite.
It’s only 10km from the town but takes quite some time to get there. As I’ve already alluded to, the roads outside Luang Prabang are very underdeveloped and the one to get here was no different. Bumpy pothole filled gravel roads made it feel like a long trip. ..but it was worth it once we got there.
We had to negotiate a rate for the driver to wait for us, so that we would be able to get back. So we only spent three hours there, which felt a bit rushed considering our style of cruising, and that it really was a truly amazing place. We did see some Chinese tour groups who were in and out within 30 minutes however, so maybe three hours would be too long for some people!
An incredibly beautiful landscape
The park is absolutely beautiful. It’s full of trails, waterfalls, papaya trees, and other fresh herbs, fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. There are wooden swings in the water and wooden hut platforms that you can sit on and chill out from. We even enjoyed a little dip in the cool water.
The viewpoint cafe is beautiful as you get a view out over the valley. There’s good food at the restaurant and you can even go ziplining!
There are swing bridges all throughout the park, although Ayla wasn’t too keen on them. I didn’t blame her with the strong rushing waterfalls that were immediately underneath them! She got halfway along the first one but the second one was a little more dangerous so we opted out of it. It would have been easy for her to slip through the wire lining the sides of the bridge so we thought we would best give that one a miss.
There are plenty of other things to do at Nahm Dong Park if you have a little longer to spend there. Try ziplining or the tree top walk for a bit of adventure. Workshops include handmade paper making, bamboo weaving, cooking, and embroidery. You can also camp there and they have opportunities for volunteers.
7. La Pistoche Swimming Pool and Bar
Sometimes you might not be looking for overly special things to do in Luang Prabang. If you just want to cool off, we’d recommend trying La Pistoche swimming pool and bar.
8. Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden
We had a lovely few hours out at the botanical gardens in Luang Prabang. The whole thing was a complete experience from start to finish.
We waited in their nice office, and were escorted down to the boat when it was time to leave. The 15 minute ride along the Mekong in a gorgeous wooden boat was divine. The park itself contains thoughtfully laid out trails, and we also got to enjoy a fun bamboo weaving session. To top it all off you can enjoy an amazing local meal at the onsite restaurant.
I have seen reviews saying that $25 is too expensive considering it’s one of the cheapest countries in the world and the gardens are still developing. After all, there are beautiful gardens all around the world that are completely free.
In my opinion it’s very much worth paying for. The gardens are 100% privately funded and without paying the entry fee they would not be able to continue to develop, preserve and educate. Countries like Laos don’t have government funding to throw into much at all.
Everyone involved in our day seemed to really care and the small touches made for an incredible experience. For us it was well worth it and was one of my favorite things to do in Luang Prabang.
In late 2020 the Luang Prabang botanical gardens are currently closed. We hope they will be able to get back on their feet soon.
9. Luang Prabang night market
The Luang Prabang night market night market is well worth a visit. It’s full of locally made crafts and clothes, and there is the cutest, tiniest laned, which is filled with local street food. I was so excited to see a huge vegan buffet there, with about 30 dishes to choose from! You simply fill up a bowl as much as you like for less than $2.
However, there is one thing I want to mention. We went there to eat on our first two nights in Luang Prabang. I thought I’d be very happy to eat there every night in fact! But a day or two later I became very violently ill, with non stop spewing for 12 hours. Not a fun thing to add to the top of the morning sickness I still had at 20 or so weeks pregnant!
Food poisoning from buffet style dining
It’s not always easy to figure out where food poisoning has come from. However, once I thought about it I was pretty sure that the food at this market was the culprit. I’m not sure how long the food sits out in the heat, or what happens to unused portions. I suspect they get reused the next day.
So in hindsight, I wouldn’t recommend the buffet style set up we enjoyed. We like street food but generally stick to food that gets cooked while we’re there. I also spoke to others who suspect they fell ill after enjoying the very delicious vegan buffet. At the time I guess I just got over-excited with how amazing it appeared to be!
In spite of the sickness, we’d definitely recommend adding the night market to your list of things to do in Luang Prabang. Just be careful of that delicious looking buffet!
Final thoughts about things to do in Luang Prabang, and further reading
If you only had 3 days in Luang Prabang we’d recommend visiting Kuangsi falls and Nahm Dong Park outside of the town. And make sure you allow time to cruise around the center on foot, or by bike or tuk tuk and just take in the cuteness of the town, river, markets and cafes.
If you’re visiting other places in South East Asia you may also want to check out our recommendations of things to do in Singapore, Krabi, Siem Reap, Hoi An, or Da Nang.
Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.
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