Things To Do In Luang Prabang – Budget Travel In Laos

Luang Prabang is the most popular destination in Laos. Traditional Laos and European colonial buildings stand together in this UNESCO World Heritage city.

Luang Prabang is such a beautiful city, you can spend your time here simply wandering the streets, enjoying the laidback atmosphere and indulging in the many coffee shops and restaurants. But there are also many interesting activities you can enjoy.

We spent five nights over Christmas in Luang Prabang before heading north. We then returned for another three days. A lot of the time we just enjoyed wandering the city and exploring the many communities hidden within the main streets. It’s such a charming city that you will fall in love with it, even if you don’t visit the waterfalls or caves!

Things To Do In Luang Prabang

These are the Luang Prabang attractions that we enjoyed during our stay.

Garavek Traditional Lao Storytelling And Music

Garavek is one of at least two places where you can enjoy traditional storytelling in a very small theatre. The storyteller was a young guy who showed great enthusiasm for his stories, which are folk tales similar to those told around the world. He was accompanied by a much older man who played music on the traditional instrument ‘khene’. The storyteller had good English and he was mostly easy to understand. The show lasted about one hour and cost 50,000 kip so it’s not exactly cheap but we had a great time listening to these old stories and drinking Beerlaus. Map.

Garavek Traditional Lao Storytelling And Music Opening Times: shows start at 6.30 pm. Arrive at 6.00 pm. There are only 24 seats so advance tickets are recommended. If there are less than 5 people, the show is cancelled.
Garavek Traditional Lao Storytelling And Music Entrance Fee: 50,000 KIP.

Kuang Si Waterfall Park

Kuang Si Waterfall, along with Pak Ou Caves, are the most popular trips from Luang Prabang. You know this as the tuk tuk drivers shout them out to you as you pass by. We booked a minivan in advance. You can do this from any of the tour operators situated around the town. The return minivan cost 35,000 kip each.

We were dropped off in the bustling market just outside the waterfall park and told to return two-and-a-half hours later. This gave us enough time to explore the park and climb to the top of the waterfall and back down again, stopping for a swim on the way. There was not enough time to visit the cave at the top of the waterfall. Tickets for entrance were 20,000 kip.

At the beginning of the park, we found a bear sanctuary. There was lots of information about the bears and poaching. We were not expecting to see actual bears so that was a bonus!

We had read reviews recommending that it was best to climb up the right side of the river (as you get wet feet on the left side). The right side was more covered by forest and the path brought us out at certain levels of the waterfall.

We walked up to the top and enjoyed the amazing views before deciding that we would return down the the opposite side after all.

It wasn’t too wet and our feet remained fairly dry.

From this side, we were able to get even better views of the waterfall.

We just had to pause for a selfie!

We headed back down and Joanna went for a swim in the clear, blue water.

We arrived back at the market with just enough time to buy a sausage from one of the many vendors.

I highly recommend a trip to Kuang Si Waterfall. If you want to spend more time there, you will have to organise your own travel. I felt we could have done with another hour or two. Map.

Kuang Si Waterfall Opening Times: 8 am – 5 pm, Wed – Mon. 9 am – 5 pm, Tues.
Kuang Si Waterfall Entrance Fee: 20,000 KIP.

L’Etranger Books & Tea Movie Nights

L’Etranger Books & Tea is a quaint cafe that has an art gallery and sells local crafts, books and maps, as well as serving food and drink. In the evenings, they show movies on a 51 inch screen in the upstairs area of the cafe. There were comfortable floor mats and pillows to make us feel at home. It was free admission as long as we purchased a drink. We enjoyed it so much, we did it twice. You can find the movie schedule at the entrance or on their facebook page. Map.

Luang Prabang Morning Market

Visit the local outdoor market where the locals get their basic ingredients. Meat, fish, bugs, frogs: you’ll find it all here. Map.

Luang Prabang Morning Market Opening Times: 5.30 am – 9 pm, every day.

Luang Prabang Night Bazaar

We wouldn’t have noticed this had we not seen it when travelling to the waterfall. It is about 15 minutes walk from the centre. There were many stalls selling counterfeit goods at cheap prices. Some with questionable spelling. Map.

Luang Prabang Night Bazaar Opening Times: 5 pm – 9.30 pm, every day.

Luang Prabang Night Market

Every evening, Sisavangvong Road transforms into a night market. Traders sell jewellery, clothes, bags, whiskey and many other goods to the endless stream of tourists. As with most markets, be prepared to haggle to get a good price. Some blogs suggested that you can get them down to as little as 30% of their original asking price but I did not find this to be the case. They were more than willing to let me walk away at an offer of 50%. Generally, you should be able to get them down to around 60% of their first asking price. I bought a jacket from here to keep me warm on my travels further north for £5. I bought some shorts for £2 which tore the first time I tried to swim in them. Some trousers cost around £3 and seemed better quality.

It was a really lively market and the traders were friendly and haggled with a smile on their face. Do not become aggressive. It is not expected and you will come across as a bit of a wally. Map.

Luang Prabang Night Market Opening Times: 5 pm – 11 pm, every day.

Luang Prabang Night Market (Food)

The food market here is excellent. Joanna enjoyed the veggie buffet and the dumplings and I loved the German sausage stall as you enter. We had a wonderful grilled talapia for our ‘Polish Christmas’ and I also recommend the mini-pancakes filled with condensed milk and coconut. The fruit stall was also great value. We bought a tray of various fruits (pineapple, mango, dragon fruit, papaya, melon) for less than a pound. Map.

Luang Prabang Night Market (Food) Opening Times: 6 pm – 11 pm, every day.

Movie Projection (Chang, 1929)

Every evening, at either Sanctuary Luang Prabang Hotel (6.30 pm) or Victoria Xieng Thong Palace (7 pm), there are projections of the 1929 silent movie ‘Chang’. ‘Chang’ was the first movie to be filmed in Laos (and Thailand) by the team that would go on to produce ‘King Kong’. The film was lost for 60 years and has been remastered and brought to you here with a soundtrack by local musicians. It’s a great film and a thoroughly enjoyable experience to watch it outdoors, under the stars, on a projector. We watched it at the Sanctuary Hotel (map). It is free admission but you are required to buy a drink.

Phousi Hill

You will see Phousi Hill from wherever you are in the city. It’s the temple-topped summit in the middle of Luang Prabang that lights up in the evening, casting it’s powerful presence over the city and its inhabitants. It is a popular spot for watching the sunset as the views across both sides of the city are simply breathtaking. You can enter the mount from both sides; we chose to begin from Kingkitsarath Road and exit on Sisavangvong Road. Along the path, we saw many shrines and Buddhas.

About halfway up, you will have to pay 20,000 kip if you wish to continue. Trust me, you do.

You can look out over both sides of the city. They even have a point where you can pose for pictures with the sun setting behind you.

Looks so peaceful, doesn’t it? The reality is a little different. This is the same moment from MY perspective.

It gets very busy up there with people jostling for the best place to view and capture the sunset with their cameras. The reality of tourism!

Phousi Hill Opening Times: 6 am – 7 pm, every day.
Phousi Hill Entrance Fee: 20,000 KIP.

Temples Of Luang Prabang

There are many temples in Luang Prabang of varying size (Google Maps lists 20 in the city). We saw a lot of these by simply exploring the area. However, there are some hidden away in the small communities that lie between the main streets of the city. Make sure you have a walk down these streets as it is there you will see some of the most wonderful architecture. The French influence sits happily alongside the traditional wooden Laos buildings and the area is so green, with an abundance of plant life almost covering the area.

UXO Laos Visitors’ Centre

We had already visited a UXO information centre in Vientiane (read about it here). This small museum os one of the less touristy things to do in Luang Prabang as it is located a little out of the centre. It gives information on the effect of UXO on the local area as well as the bigger impact. Map.

UXO Laos Visitors’ Centre Opening Times: 8 am – 12 pm and 1 – 4 pm, Mon – Fri.
UXO Laos Visitors’ Centre Entrance Fee: Free admission (donations welcome).

Is Luang Prabang Worth Visiting?

Luang Prabang is a beautiful and clean city that appeals to both backpackers and tourists. It has a completely different vibe to Vang Vieng. There isn’t much of a party scene here. Instead, it is a great place to relax and enjoy the restaurants, bars, temples and night markets.

These are just some of the activities you can do in Luang Prabang. There are many more. My advice when in the city is to simply explore. The people are friendly and the town is stunningly beautiful. It was a real highlight of our Laos adventure.