1 Day Vientiane Itinerary

Greetings from Laos! Currently I’m in Laos, experiencing my first real solo travel that I’d been dreaming of for so long! I’ve learned a lot so far, and I wanted to share the experience. Here is my 1-day Vientiane itinerary – where I went, what I did, and what I ate – I included all the things I actually did during my stay in Vientiane. Also I mentioned how much it cost to spend a day, so you can use this information for your future trip plan to Laos!

 

Before you read

• I went cheap, like really cheap – I always had diner at street restaurants, used public transportation, and walked to everywhere. So if you are looking for something a little more luxury – eating food at restaurants, taking tour to go somewhere – those things will always be your options!
• I had a tight schedule, because I wanted to see as many things as possible in a limited amount of time I had. So of course you can spend more time in each places, as long as you like! Since I walked to pretty much everywhere, you will have an extra time if you decide to use a tuktuk!
• I am a small eater. I can’t eat much food in the morning, so I always ditched the breakfast or just grabbed a shake and started a day. You will probably be surprised how much I didn’t eat in this trip – I was just too excited to remember that I have to eat haha!

 

8:30 Arrive at Nong Khai

After 12 hours train journey from Hua Lumphong Railway Station in Bangkok, I finally arrived at the town near the Thailand-Laos border called Nong Khai. When I went outside of the station there were many tuktuks waiting for us to take to the immigration, but I decided to walk to get there, because Google Maps was saying it was just a 15 minutes journey.

 

8:50 Immigration

About 15 minutes after walking in the middle of nowhere, I reached at the immigration. I filled in the departure card, and got a stamp on my passport. It was just a 10 minutes process.

Now it’s time to cross the border, the Thai-Lao friendship bridge for about 3 km. I paid 15 baht for the bus to the Lao border side, but you can also walk if you wanna stop at the bridge and save some money. (I didn’t have energy for it.)

Arrived at the Lao border. I filled in an arrival card and passed the immigration. At the immigration there was a money exchange so I changed just 1000 baht ($28.53), and I got 229630kp. I changed in Luang Prabang a few days later, but the rate was pretty much same, considering the currency rate on those two days.

 

9:45 Bus from Nong Khai to Talat Sao Market

Outside of the immigration, (of course always) tuktuks were waiting for me. They told me they can take me to the center for 10,000kp, but I decided to take a public bus (6000kp). There were many local people on the bus, so it is probably the cheapest way to get to the city center.

 

10:10 Walk to the Niny Backpacker Hostel

After about 30 minutes bus ride, I arrive at next to the Talat Sao market, close to the bus station. Since I already booked a hostel on agoda, I used GPS and walked there.

 

10:25 Arrive at Hostel

Arrived at the hostel for the night. I stayed at the Niny Backpacker Hotel (here), and it was the cheapest deal I found on Agoda.com. I booked a dormitory in advance, and it was 30000kp per night including tax and everything. I was a little early to check in, so I had to wait for 30 minutes in the lobby. The place looked new and clean, with hot shower and toilet paper in the toilet (important point!). Soon after I checked in, I left for an adventure!

 

11:00 Left for Buddha park

Since I came from the Talat Sao market on the way to the hostel in the morning, I just went back to the way I came from, and I arrived at the bus station. I asked some people which bus goes to the Buddha park, and all of them said it’s the bus #14, and pointed out to southeast, so I kept walking on the road, but it didn’t seem like going anywhere. I decided to come back to the bus station, and I found another bus stop area on my right. I just needed to pass the big bus station and turn right, when I was coming from the market (here!).

 

12:00 Bus departure

After waiting for about 30 minutes in the bus, the bus finally departed. The fee was 6000kp ($0.74). The picture above is the one I took when I get off the bus. It says #171 on the side, but you have to check the front side to figure out the bus number.

 

12:50 Arrival

Thanks to Google Maps, I knew where the place is so I could get off there, but there’s no sign of a bus stop or a big sigh of Buddha park. There was just a little parking in front of the park, so you have to be careful not to pass the bus stop. You should probably ask some locals on the bus where to get off, and they will tell you when.

At the entrance I paid 50000 for the entrance fee, and extra 30000 because I wanted to bring my camera with me. Inside there were Buddha statues all over the place, from small to big, with different postures and styles. If you go up the big round statue close to the entrance, you can see the entire view of the park.

 

13:10 Lao traditional dance

The park was smaller than I expected, so 30 minutes was enough for me to look around the whole place. When I decided to leave, I noticed the Lao traditional dance is going on near the entrance, so I sat down and watched it.

 

13:20 Bus to go back to Talao Sao

After the dance was finished, I went outside and crossed the street, because there was a small sign saying “Bus Stop” (I didn’t notice before) and a little bench (I think it belongs to the restaurant). The bus came soon after I arrived, and it was the same bus #14. The bus first stopped at Nong Khai, the border town from where I came that morning, and went back to the Talat Sao market.

 

14:20 Back to Talao Sao – Walking to the That Luang Temple

It was about 1 hour ride to come back to the Talat Sao market. From there I decided to walk to the That Luang Temple, one of the top tourist attractions in Vientiane.

 

15:00 Arrival

It was about 40 minutes walk to the temple (Yes I walked all the way). The entrance fee to the temple was 50000kp. I walked around the stupa (picture above) and took some pictures. The temple itself contains only stupa, and surrounded by the wall (picture below). The sun was shining so strong and I was so hot after the walk, I decided to keep going to the next destination (The Patuxay Monument).

 

15:20 Walk to Patuxi Momunent

Outside the temple, there was a coffee vendor on the street, so I took a little coffee break. The coffee came in this little plastic bag, and she stuck the straw to it. Although I saw a lot of drinks in a plastic bag before in Thailand, it was the first time for me to actually drink it!

 

16:00 Arrival

A little 40 minutes walk after, I arrived at the famous Patuxay Monument. It was really hot outside, so I didn’t see many people sitting around the area. But when I pass under the gate, I noticed there is a place to eat and drink, and a couple of benches where you can sit and take a break. When I looked up, the beautifully decorated ceiling catched my eye, and stood there for a moment (picture below).

 

16:30 Break

I decided to come back to the hostel and take a little break, because my legs were so tired after quite a walk in the heat all day. I researched how I can get to the Vang Vieng, my next destination in Laos, and what I can do in the city. I also checked the sunset time, so I can go watch the sunset over the Mekong river.

 

17:40 Left for the evening sunset walk

My hostel was pretty close to the riverside, so I left about 40 minutes before the sunset. I bought a beer of Beer Lao in a restaurant on the way, and it cost 10000kp ($1.24) for a 640ml bottle.

 

17:45 Arrive at the river side

When I arrived at the riverside, the sun was perfectly round on the sky but a little smoggy. I saw a lot of people sitting and watching the sunset, including locals and tourists. There was also an aerobics going on and people were moving their body to the upbeat Lao pop music. I noticed a few tourists joining them.

 

18:17 Sunset

I decided to walk down close to the river. The ground was sandy like a beach, and it was a nice feeling between my toes. There was no tourist but me when I arrived there, and I just saw local people playing and taking selfies. I sat down on the sand, with a beer in my hand, and watched the sun going down.

 

18:45 Walk around the city

After I finished my beer, I decided to take a little walk in the city. By the riverside there was a night market, and I could find different kinds of cloths, shoes and many other random stuff. Then I walked up Khun Bu Lom Road to the end, draw the circle, and came back to the riverside. I noticed a couple of restaurants on the street, but to my impression, the closer to the riverside, the closer you can find many restaurants and street vendors.

 

19:40 Dinner

When I come back to the same area I started walking, I found a local restaurant, so I decided to eat there (here). I picked Lao traditional noodle (20000kp = $2.47), since it was one of the cheapest dish on the menu (I think 20000kp was a bit expensive).

 

20:20 Drop at the mini mart

On the way back to my hostel I found a mini mart (here), so I bought a small bottle of water (3000kp = $0.37) and a sunscreen (42000kp = $5.20), since I forgot to bring one. The sunscreen was quite expensive considering my low budget on this trip, but I had to buy one otherwise I will be so dark in a few days.

 

20:30 Come back to the hostel

By the time I came back to the hostel I was very tired, so I decided to take a good rest. I felt only 1 day in Vientiane is not enough, and thought 2 full days are enough to look around the whole city, but I needed to move to the next city since I had a tight schedule. Next time I come here, I will take it more slowly!

 

How Much I Spent

Bus from Nong Khai to the city center: 6000kp

Hostel for one night: 30000kp

Bus from city center to the Buddha Park: 6000kp

Buddha Park entrance fee: 50000 (1 person) + 30000kp (camera)

Bus from the Buddha Park to the city center: 6000kp

That Luang temple entrance fee: 50000kp

Coffee: 10000kp

Beer Lao big bottle: 10000kp

Dinner (Lao traditional noodle soup): 20000kp

Water: 3000kp

Sunscreen: 42000kp

Total: 263000kp ($32.54)

 

Here is all the things I did in Vientiane in 1 day. I had some snacks on the train to Nong Khai, so that was my breakfast, and I totally forgot about the lunch… (I wasn’t hungry at all and didn’t wanna spend much money). Considering that I bought a sunscreen, that will do for your breakfast and dinner, so you can still spend a day for about $30. Of course you can spend more money on food and souvenir – there are endless ways to spend a day in Vientiane! I hope it will be helpful for your future travels, and hope you will enjoy your stay!