Our favorite 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.

Treetop explorer

Not for the faint-hearted, this two-day guided jungle adventure will take you deep into the mountains of Doung Hua Sao National Park.

Trek through the coffee plantations and into the wild, semi-evergreen jungle to reach giant multi-level waterfalls. Then, criss-cross through gorges on zipwires, and take on a heart-thumping, via-ferrata-style walkway secured to the rockface with bolts and harnesses. There are no two ways about it: this is easily the most thrilling way to fully immerse yourself in the Lao jungle.

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.

The hidden side of Luang Prabang

On this alternative tour, we’ll whisk you away from the boutique hotels and gilded wats of the town center to a side of Luang Prabang few tourists get to see -- where tuk-tuks putter along dirt roads to quiet temples, and minority villages sprawl along the banks of the Mekong.

Here, you can climb to dilapidated hilltop temples with incredible panoramic views, visit a spiritual retreat once used by the kings of Lan Xang, and meet Hmong and Khmu people who live lives governed by ancestral traditions. Finally, you can return to the city by boat, arriving in royal style on the mighty Mekong.

Boules & Barbecue

What does Laos have in common with turn-of-the-century Provence? An abiding love of the boules, for one thing.

Join an amateur petanque league and you’ll soon find out that this is one of the best ways to get to know the locals. Over some drinks and snacks, your new teammates will show you how to toss a metal ball as close to the “jack” as possible, while trying to knock your opponents’ balls out of the way. Then, as the sun goes down, cross a bamboo bridge to a riverside restaurant for another quintessential Lao experience: Sin Dat Barbecue, where you grill your own food over a bucket of hot coals.

Wat Phou Temple

Back in its 11th-century heyday, the Khmer Empire covered over a million square kilometers – including much of what we now know as Laos. Wat Phou is a relic of that golden age, with bas-relief carvings, a sacred spring, and reservoirs surrounded by frangipani trees.

Your guide will be able to tell you about the history of the site, which built by the same people as Angkor, and explain how the temple’s design reflects Hindu religious principles. Then, climb to the top of the temple mountain to be rewarded with panoramic views over the Mekong Plain – and the chance to partake of the spring’s special powers.

4,000 Islands by bike and boat

With 4,000 islands to explore, how do you know where to begin? This laid-back tour is about getting beyond the three main islands to explore some little gems that most people overlook.

Just as stunning as their larger siblings, these islands are totally untouched by tourism –inhabited only by local fishermen and their families. Cycling on dirt tracks and hopping from island to island by ferry, this is a chance to really dove into island life – into the bamboo basket-weaving workshops, the sleepy fishing villages, and the tiny wooden temples frequented only by locals. With a guide to help you communicate, this is our favorite way to get under the skin of the 4,000 Islands.