Our favourite Laos tours and excursions

If destinations and accommodation are the bread and butter of a great vacation, a hands-on cultural experience is the secret sauce that brings it all to life.

We know that not everyone likes the idea of organized fun. You don’t need your hand held – we get it. But we also know that we’d bet our bottom kip that even the most die-hard independent travelers will fall for our incredible guides, whose in-depth knowledge and personal stories make every experience special.

The reason we can be so confident is because we’re independent travelers ourselves, and we know there’s nothing worse than coughing up for a cultural class or guided tour only to find that it feels inauthentic and touristy. That’s why we only recommend experiences we’ve personally road-tested and absolutely loved – no cookie-cutter day trips, no lackluster guides, and no doing something just because everyone else is.

In Laos, that means trekking up 100 waterfalls to picnic off banana leaves against the backdrop of the Nam Ou River Valley. It means cycling around the islands of the Mekong, stopping to watch craftsmen weaving bamboo and eating dinner with a local family. It means swapping Luang Prabang’s World Heritage architecture for its rural fringes, exploring the minority villages and tumbledown temples that line the banks of the Mekong.

We can take you beyond the standard tourist sites, but it takes the knowledge of a local to bring those places to life – and these experiences are the way to do it.

MandaLao Elephant Sanctuary

We’ve seen a lot of wildlife sanctuaries in our time, and this one might be the very best.

Looking after retired working elephants in conditions as close to their natural habitat as possible, the dedicated people at MandaLao have made it their mission to improve the lot of Laos’s dwindling elephant population through ecotourism. This is a chance to interact with one of the world’s most magnificent creatures in a way that makes a positive difference to their future – and we can’t recommend it enough.

Ancient streets of Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang has seen numerous cultures come and go in its 1,500 years, but what makes it so special is the way it has fused those traditions together to create something completely new.

With a guide to point out the most interesting details, you’ll start to see them everywhere: plaited bamboo houses opposite elegant French-style balconies; Italian marble steps topped by three-headed elephants; traditional Lao motifs mingled with Beaux-Arts flourishes. This tour is all about understanding the complex web of historic influences that make Luang Prabang so dazzlingly unique.

The Plain of Jars

We’re suckers for a mystery, and this is one of Asia’s best archaeological conundrums.

Scattered across hundreds of square kilometres on the Xieng Khouang Plateau, these giant stone jars might have been burial urns, rainwater butts, or rice wine kegs belonging to a race of giants – or none of the above. Debate your favourite theory with your expert guide or come up with your own. What we do know is that there are more than 2,500 of them, they’re over two millennia old, and they make a pretty majestic backdrop for playing Indiana Jones.

Carol Cassidy in her workshop in Vientiane

Insider Experience: Carol Cassidy's workshop

There are few people better placed to introduce you to traditional and contemporary Lao textile culture than Carol Cassidy.

Carol first came to Laos as a textile expert with the UN Development Programme in 1989, and she unwittingly stumbled upon what she describes as “a weaver’s paradise”. Years later, she's still here -- and she now works with 40 Lao artisans to produce woven wall hangings, scarves, shawls and fabric, all using traditional methods. Touring Carol’s workshop is a rare chance to meet a real insider, and you'll have plenty of time to ask her about her experiences over cocktails and canapés in the garden.

Bolaven Plateau by vintage Jeep

Over a kilometre above sea level, the Bolaven Plateau is your chance to experience a totally different Laotian landscape – where cool temperatures, volcanic soil and plentiful rain conspire to create a wonderfully rich and fertile land perfect for growing coffee, cassava, bananas, tea and cardamom.

Where most tourists follow a well-worn circuit around the plateau’s edge, we like to plunge right through the middle – bouncing along rugged dirt roads in an open-top 4x4, stopping at Katu minority villages famed for their beaded, handwoven textiles, exploring hidden caves used during the Secret War, and cooling off with frequent dips under crashing waterfalls.

Trekking in Nong Khiaw

There aren’t many trekking locations more impressive than Nong Khiaw, and this challenging route up the “100 waterfalls” is one of our favourites.

This multi-level cascade goes on for ten kilometres, with terrain varying from flat and gentle to near-vertical, with some wading, a little scrambling, and bamboo ladders fixed in place for the trickier sections. It’s sweaty work, but there are plenty of inviting pools in which to take a dip along the way, and you’ll be rewarded with a packed lunch served on banana leaves against a backdrop of spectacular views over the Nam Ou Valley.