Things to do in Laos

A turquoise cascade tumbles through jungle into cool limestone pools perfect for swimming.

Climb the 328 steps of this central hill for a 360-degree panorama over Luang Prabang's rooftops, the Mekong, and the surrounding mountains.

Hundreds of massive stone jars, some weighing over 10 tonnes, litter a plateau in Xieng Khouang.

Laos's most sacred Buddhist monument rises as a gilded stupa encircled by cloisters of seated Buddhas.

Two limestone caverns at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Ou rivers house thousands of discarded Buddha statues left by devotees over centuries.

Cool highland air and volcanic soil produce some of Southeast Asia's best arabica and robusta beans.

This laid-back island in the Mekong's braided channels has no cars, hammock-strung guesthouses, and rice paddies that stretch to the river.

The gilded sweep of this 16th-century monastery roof and its enormous Tree of Life mosaic on the rear wall make it the most beautiful temple in Laos.

Vientiane's answer to the Arc de Triomphe sits at the end of Lane Xang Avenue, decorated with Hindu-Buddhist motifs and guarded by nagas.

Before dawn, saffron-robed monks walk barefoot through Luang Prabang's old town collecting sticky rice from kneeling residents.

A steep, muddy 45-minute climb rewards you with sweeping views over the Nam Ou River valley and jagged limestone peaks.

A 7.5-kilometre river cave so tall it swallows longboats whole, with headlamps revealing cathedral-scale limestone formations.

Float downstream on inflated inner tubes through a landscape of sugarloaf karst towers and jungle.

Built in 1904 for King Sisavangvong, the palace blends French Beaux-Arts and Lao motifs.

Over 200 Hindu and Buddhist concrete sculptures crowd a meadow beside the Mekong, including a giant reclining Buddha and a pumpkin-shaped building you enter through a demon's mouth to climb to a rooftop viewpoint.

This sobering museum documents the unexploded ordnance crisis and the prosthetic limbs COPE manufactures for UXO survivors.

Sleep in treehouses 40 metres above the forest canopy and zip-line between platforms over primary jungle.

These 480 limestone caves sheltered the Pathet Lao leadership and 23,000 civilians during the American bombing campaign.

A pre-Angkorian Hindu temple complex climbs a mountainside in Champasak, with sandstone sanctuaries framing a sacred lingam-shaped stone.

Twin streams plunge nearly 120 metres into a gorge in the heart of the Bolaven Plateau, making this one of Laos's tallest waterfalls.

A two-day journey on a wooden longboat drifts past teak forests, remote villages, and limestone bluffs between Luang Prabang and the Thai border.

Hmong and Lao artisans lay out handwoven silk scarves, mulberry-paper lanterns, and silver jewellery on Sisavangvong Road's pedestrian strip.

The largest waterfall by volume in Southeast Asia is a roaring cataract of braided rapids across the Mekong near the Cambodian border.

Lao minced-meat salad pounded with toasted rice, fish sauce, lime, and herbs is the national dish, best paired with an ice-cold Beerlao at a Vientiane Mekong riverside stall.

Paddle through towering limestone gorges between Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi, passing caves, sandbars, and riverside villages with no road access.