We spent almost four weeks in Luang Prabang, Laos, 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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Page Contents
- 1. Things to do in Luang Prabang: Cruise around on a bike!
- 2. Walk up Phou Si Hill
- 3. Things to do in Luang Prabang: The Bamboo Experience
- 4. Kuang Si Falls
- 5. Pak Ou Caves
- 6. La Pistoche Swimming Pool and Bar
- 7. Luang Prabang night market
- Final thoughts about things to do in Luang Prabang, and further reading
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 take you anywhere you want to go.
The town is very bike-friendly, and most guesthouses likely have bikes available for use or for 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 about 10 minutes to reach 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 $ 86 USD 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 activities in Luang Prabang offered by tour companies. We had a lot of fun and didn’t feel rushed, like we did with other, more touristy things. 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 realize that the town doesn’t really paint a picture about how underdeveloped 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 had been rescued from poachers. It looked like they were making a good effort 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 to arrange our own transport or a private driver when we can, because we tend 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 popular activity for tourists in Luang Prabang. 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! Overall, it took 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 are upper and lower caves you can visit. The upper cave can be reached after a short uphill climb, but it needs restoration. The locals selling their wares here were more aggressive and persistent than those we came across in the markets and in 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 1,000 Buddha statues they are said to 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. 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.
7. Luang Prabang night market
The Luang Prabang Night Market is well worth a visit. It’s full of locally made crafts and clothes, and there is the cutest, tiniest lane, 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 setup 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 three days in Luang Prabang, we’d recommend visiting Kuangsi Falls and The Bamboo Experience. And make sure you allow time to cruise around the center on foot, by bike, or by tuk-tuk, and just take in the cuteness of the town, river, markets, and cafes.
If you’re visiting other places in Southeast Asia, you may also want to check out our recommendations of things to do in Singapore, 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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