--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Vientiane, Laos | Wimup" description: "Vientiane's 10 best experiences: Pha That Luang, the COPE Visitor Centre, Wat Sisaket, Buddha Park and the Mekong riverfront, with where to eat." url: https://wimup.com/city/vientiane type: City guide updated: 2026-09-03 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Vientiane Vientiane, Laos · Asia · By Wimup Editorial, 15 min read Laos put its capital on a bend of the Mekong in 1560, lost it to a Siamese army in 1828, and rebuilt it under the French as a provincial town of tamarind-lined avenues. All three layers are still legible, and they sit inside about two square kilometres. It rewards two days of walking and one afternoon on the embankment. ## Quick answer Spend the first morning on the two temples that survived 1828, Wat Sisaket and Haw Phra Kaew, which face each other and tell one story between them. Give the afternoon to the COPE Visitor Centre. Keep Pha That Luang and Patuxai for the hour before sunset, when the light is on the gilding, and finish on the Mekong embankment as the night market opens. Day two is Buddha Park, 25 km downriver. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Nov · Dec · Jan - **Ideal length:** 2–3 days - **Budget per day:** $30–70 - **Language:** Lao - **Getting around:** On foot in the centre, LOCA or tuk-tuk beyond it - **Tourism board:** [↗ Website](https://www.tourismlaos.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Vientiane ### 1. Pha That Luang Landmark · That Luang Road, Xaysettha District, Vientiane The national symbol, reproduced on the state seal and on the banknotes. Setthathirath moved the Lan Xang capital here in 1560 and raised the stupa in 1566; a Siamese army destroyed it in 1828, and what stands is a 1930s reconstruction worked up from drawings of the ruin. On the November full moon it is the focus of the largest religious gathering in the country. - **Time:** 45–60 min - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** The cloister's inner walk gives the clean view of the gilding, without the car park in the frame ### 2. COPE Visitor Centre Museum · Khouvieng Road, Ban Thongkhankham, Vientiane Between 1964 and 1973 the United States dropped around two million tonnes of ordnance on Laos, a large share of which failed to detonate and is still in the ground. COPE was set up in 1997 to fit prosthetic limbs, and this centre explains why the work exists. Direct without being lurid. Entry is free and donations fund the limbs, which is the argument for going. - **Time:** 60–90 min - **Cost:** Free, donations fund the work - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Give the documentary room its full running time. The survivor films are the exhibition, not a supplement to it Links: [Official site](https://copelaos.org/visit-us/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. Wat Sisaket Temple · Lane Xang Avenue at Setthathirath Road, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane The oldest temple still standing in Vientiane, and the only significant one to come through the sack of 1828 intact. Chao Anouvong built it in 1818 in the Siamese style rather than the Lao, which is the most persuasive explanation for why the Siamese left it alone. The reason to come is the cloister: thousands of small Buddha figures set into niches in the wall. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** The cloister, not the ordination hall, is what you came for. Walk it twice ### 4. Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) Landmark · Thadeua Road, about 25 km southeast of the centre, Hatsayfong District A meadow above the Mekong holding more than 200 concrete figures, cast from 1958 onward under Bunleua Sulilat, a monk who taught a mix of Buddhism, Hinduism and local animism and had the sculptures built to illustrate it. The pumpkin-shaped structure at the entrance has three levels read as hell, earth and heaven, reached by a stair that starts inside a demon's mouth. - **Time:** 1–2 hr - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** The Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is on the same road, so the trip pairs with a border run or an airport transfer ### 5. Patuxai Landmark · Lane Xang Avenue, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane The victory gate that closes the head of Lane Xang Avenue, built between 1957 and 1968 for those who died in the fight for independence from France. The silhouette is the Arc de Triomphe; everything on it is not, from the kinnari figures to the Ramayana ceilings. It went up using cement the United States had sent for a runway. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Ticketed for the terrace - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** The climb is the point: the terrace lines up Lane Xang Avenue with Pha That Luang beyond it ### 6. Haw Phra Kaew Museum · Setthathirath Road, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane Setthathirath built this in 1565 as the royal temple for the Emerald Buddha, the jade image he had brought from Chiang Mai. A Siamese army took the image in 1779 and it has been in Bangkok ever since, which makes this the most famous empty room in Laos. It now serves as a museum of Lao Buddhist sculpture, with a quiet walled garden most visitors skip. - **Time:** 30–45 min - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Read it against Wat Sisaket across the road. The pair is a single story about 1828 ### 7. Chao Anouvong Park and the Mekong embankment Park · Fa Ngum Road, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane The riverside park is named for the king who rebelled against Siam in 1826 and lost the city for it, and his statue faces the Thai bank opposite. From late afternoon the promenade fills: open-air aerobics with speakers on the paving, families on the grass, and the night market unpacking under red canopies. It is the one place where the whole city turns out. - **Time:** 1–2 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Sunset - **Tip:** Come while the light is still on the river, then stay for the stalls rather than arriving after dark ### 8. Wat Si Muang Temple · Setthathirath Road at Thanon Samsenthai, Sisattanak District, Vientiane The city's guardian temple and the busiest working shrine in Vientiane. It was founded in 1563 on a site that already held a Khmer-era laterite pillar, and that pillar, treated as the foundation stone of the city, stands behind the altar. People come to ask for a blessing before a journey, and the wax castle procession that opens the That Luang festival forms up here. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** This is a place of worship before it is a sight. Cover shoulders and knees, and step around the offerings rather than over them ### 9. Talat Sao morning market Market · Lane Xang Avenue at Khu Vieng Road, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane The name means morning market and the trading runs well past noon. The older halls hold the things worth carrying home: handwoven silk, the sinh skirts Lao women wear to work, silver and hill-tribe textiles, sold by weavers' families who will explain what a pattern means. The food section is where the tam mak hoong runs local heat. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free to browse - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Textiles are in the old halls. If you have walked into an electronics aisle, you are in the wrong building ### 10. Wat Sok Pa Luang Temple · Sok Pa Luang Road, Sisattanak District, Vientiane A forest temple in deep teak shade fifteen minutes south of the centre, and the counterweight to the gilded set pieces on Lane Xang Avenue. Novice monks hold an open conversation with visitors in the late afternoon, partly to practise their English, and a guided meditation follows: chanting, a seated sit, then walking meditation under the trees. Nobody sells anything. - **Time:** 1–2 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** The monk conversation runs before the meditation, so arriving early is what gets you the useful half ## Best temples in Vientiane Six more beyond the three in the Top 10, four of them within a block of each other in the old quarter. 1. **Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan** (16th century · Working monastery · Setthathirath Road): Founded in the sixteenth century, destroyed by the Siamese and rebuilt. It houses one of the country's main Buddhist schools, so the courtyard is full of student monks. 2. **That Dam** (Unrestored · Free · Chanthakhoumane Road): The black stupa, marooned on a roundabout in the embassy quarter with grass growing out of its brickwork. Nobody has restored it, which is the appeal. 3. **Wat Inpeng** (Central · Free · Setthathirath Road): Just off Setthathirath behind a gilded gate, with a facade and ceiling worked in gold leaf. Small, central and easy to fold into a walk to the river. 4. **Wat Mixay** (Old quarter · Free · Setthathirath Road): One of the four temples that box in Wat Ong Teu, with a wide terrace and heavy guardians at the gate. Most visitors pass it on the way to the night market. 5. **Wat Hai Sok** (Old quarter · Free · Setthathirath Road): Worth the two-minute detour for its roof alone: a stacked, multi-tiered structure of the kind Vientiane lost almost everywhere else. Quiet at midday. 6. **Wat Chan** (Riverfront · Free · Quai Fa Ngum): The riverside member of the Wat Ong Teu cluster, with a bronze Buddha salvaged from the temple that stood here before 1828. Combine it with the sunset walk. ## Best restaurants in Vientiane Five that cook Lao food properly, from a chef-run kitchen with a daily menu to the riverside veranda everyone ends up on. 1. **Doi Ka Noi** (Lao · Daily changing menu · Ban Naxay): Chef Noi cooks a short menu that changes with what the farms send in, and it is the most serious Lao cooking in the city. Lunch-focused, and it fills. 2. **Kualao Restaurant** (Lao · Dance performance · Samsenthai Road): The formal end of Lao dining, in a colonial-era house: tam mak hoong, Mekong fish and sai oua, with a dance performance most evenings. Book ahead. 3. **Lao Kitchen** (Lao · Central · Heng Boun Road): Lao classics served without the tourist dilution, a short walk from the river. The menu marks heat levels honestly, which is a small kindness. 4. **Kong View** (Lao and Thai · Riverside · Ban Chommany, upstream): A wooden veranda over the Mekong upstream of the centre, with grilled river fish and the best sunset table in Vientiane. Arrive before the light goes. 5. **Khop Chai Deu** (Lao and international · Late · Setthathirath Road): The old-quarter institution in a French-era villa: Lao standards, a long bar and a terrace that runs late. The easiest first night in the city. ## Best cafes and bakeries in Vientiane Laos grows coffee on the Bolaven Plateau and inherited the baguette from France. Vientiane is where both land. 1. **Le Banneton** (French bakery · Breakfast · Nokeokoummane Road): The French bakery the expat quarter runs on, and the reference for croissants here. Breakfast at a pavement table before the heat arrives. 2. **Naked Espresso** (Lao beans · Espresso bar · Manthatourath Road): A small Lao-owned roastery near the embankment, taking Lao beans seriously enough to serve them as espresso. The best straight cup in the centre. 3. **Joma Bakery Cafe** (Cafe chain · Wifi · Setthathirath Road): The regional chain half of Vientiane treats as an office: reliable coffee, air conditioning and power sockets. Not a discovery, but useful. 4. **Common Grounds** (Cafe · Family friendly · Ban Naxay): A garden cafe with a bakery counter and enough space for children to be children. The family option in an otherwise backpacker centre. 5. **Karma Cafe** (Coffee · Proceeds to COPE · Khouvieng Road): The cafe in the grounds of the COPE centre, pouring Lao coffee with the takings going back into rehabilitation work. Most people need the twenty minutes. [COPE](https://copelaos.org/visit-us/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Best markets and shopping in Vientiane Four beyond Talat Sao: two food markets the city actually shops at, the riverside stalls, and a silk workshop. 1. **Talat Khua Din** (Fresh market · Mornings · Nong Bone Road): The fresh market behind the bus station: produce, river fish, herbs by the armful and grilled skewers. Go for the food stalls rather than to buy. 2. **Talat Thong Khan Kham** (Fresh market · Local · Thong Khan Kham): The biggest fresh market in the city, north of the centre and almost entirely local. The one to visit to see how Vientiane feeds itself. 3. **Vientiane night market** (Night market · Riverfront · Quai Fa Ngum): Red-canopied rows that unpack along the embankment each afternoon and run until late: textiles, souvenirs and a food row at the northern end. 4. **Lao Textiles by Carol Cassidy** (Handwoven silk · Workshop · Nokeokoummane Road): A weaving atelier in a restored colonial mansion three blocks from the river, founded in 1990. Silk made on site by Lao weavers, and the looms are part of the visit. ## Best museums and memorials in Vientiane Four beyond COPE. Two of them are out at the northern edge of the city and are best done in one trip. 1. **Lao National Museum** (National collection · Xaythany · Sivilay, Xaythany District): The national collection has moved out of the 1925 governor's residence into a purpose-built hall at Sivilay, 6 km out, so it is now a deliberate trip rather than a walk. 2. **Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial Museum** (Opened 1995 · Beside the National Museum · Xaythany District): Opened in 1995 for the first leader of the ruling party, and the clearest statement of how the state tells its own story. Next to the new National Museum. 3. **Lao Textile Museum** (Founded 2003 · Weaving demonstrations · Nongtha, northeast of the centre): Set up in 2003 by the Sisane family: traditional houses on a garden plot, looms in use, and labelling that explains what the patterns on a sinh say. 4. **Lao People's Army History Museum** (Military history · Founded 1976 · Phonekheng, north of the centre): Captured hardware, campaign photography and a narrative of the war years told entirely from the victors' side, which is why it is worth an hour. ## Best neighborhoods in Vientiane The centre is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes. These four are the parts worth crossing it for. 1. **The old quarter around Nam Phou** (Colonial grid · Chanthabouly · Chanthabouly District): The fountain square is the pivot of the colonial grid, with most of the French-era villas, restaurants and bars within three blocks. Lit at night, quiet by day. 2. **Quai Fa Ngum riverfront** (Embankment · Evenings · Chanthabouly District): The embankment road along the Mekong, with the park, the night market and the sunset bars. Where the city goes at six in the evening. 3. **Ban Anou** (Budget beds · Street food · Chanthabouly District): A grid of guesthouses, noodle shops and an evening street-food market north of the centre, and the cheapest beds within walking distance. 4. **The That Luang quarter** (Ministries · Xaysettha · Xaysettha District): Northeast of Patuxai, where the ministries, the parade ground and the national stupa sit on a scale the rest of the city never attempts. ## Best day trips from Vientiane One train ride, one reservoir, one national protected area and a border crossing, all inside a day. 1. **Vang Vieng** (About 1 hr by train · North · Vientiane Province): The karst valley on the Nam Song, and the trip the railway changed: a little over an hour where the road took a morning. Caves, lagoons and a river. 2. **Nam Ngum Reservoir** (Reservoir · Boat trips · Vientiane Province): The lake behind the Nam Ngum dam, whose hydropower is one of the country's main exports. Islands, boat trips and grilled fish, two hours north. 3. **Phou Khao Khouay** (Protected since 1993 · Trekking · East of the city): The nearest protected area to the capital, some 2,000 square kilometres of sandstone plateau, waterfalls and forest trails, under an hour by road. 4. **Nong Khai, Thailand** (Border crossing · Sala Kaew Ku · Thailand): Across the first Friendship Bridge, 25 km out. Sala Kaew Ku, the larger sculpture park the creator of Buddha Park built after leaving Laos, is the reason. ## Festivals & annual events in Vientiane (2026) - **Boun Pha That Luang** (November (full moon)): The largest religious festival in Laos, around the full moon of the twelfth lunar month. - **Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year)** (13–16 April): The biggest holiday of the year, in the hottest week of the year, and the two facts are related. - **Boun Ok Phansa and the Vientiane boat races** (October (full moon)): The end of Lent and the rainy season together: candlelit floats on the Mekong, then the biggest boat races in Laos. - **Boun Khao Phansa** (July (full moon)): The start of Buddhist Lent, when monks enter the three-month rains retreat. Candle offerings, and the quietest major date. - **Boun Bang Fai (rocket festival)** (May): Home-made bamboo rockets fired into the sky to petition for rain, with processions and music. - **Makha Bousa** (February (full moon)): Marks the gathering of 1,250 disciples before the Buddha. Candlelit circumambulations, and a good night to be at a temple. - **Boun Khao Padap Din** (August or September): The rite of the dead, when families make offerings for ancestors who have no one left to feed them. - **Lao National Day** (2 December): Marks the founding of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975. Flags along Lane Xang Avenue and a public holiday. ## Must-try dishes in Vientiane, Laos - **Laap**: The national dish: minced meat or fish with lime, fish sauce, chilli, mint and toasted ground rice. - **Tam mak hoong**: Green papaya pounded with chilli, lime, garlic and padaek, the fermented sauce that is not Thai som tam. - **Khao piak sen**: Breakfast in a bowl: hand-cut rice and tapioca noodles, thick and slippery, in broth with fried garlic. - **Khao jee pate**: The clearest thing France left behind: a baguette with pate, cold cuts, pickled carrot and chilli. - **Ping kai**: Chicken marinated in garlic, coriander root and fish sauce, flattened between bamboo tongs and grilled. - **Sai oua**: The coiled Lao sausage, heavy on lemongrass, kaffir lime and galangal, grilled until the skin blisters. - **Mok pa**: River fish with dill, lemongrass and chilli, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed until it sets. - **Khao poon**: Fermented rice vermicelli in a pork, chicken or fish broth, with raw herbs and banana flower to add yourself. ## Vientiane transport & airports - **Wattay International Airport** (VTE): The main gateway to Laos, about 3 km from the centre, with regional routes to Bangkok, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and southern China. A taxi into town takes around fifteen minutes. [Lao Airlines](https://www.laoairlines.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Laos-China Railway** (Rail): The line opened in December 2021 and runs to the Chinese border, putting Vang Vieng about an hour away and Luang Prabang under two. The station is 15 km northeast, and seats sell out three days ahead. - **Trains from Thailand** (Khamsavath): Since July 2024 the through service from Bangkok runs to Khamsavath station, 7 km from the centre. From Nong Khai it takes half an hour; the Bangkok sleeper is the classic slow arrival. - **Getting around the city** (Local): The centre is walkable end to end. Beyond it, tuk-tuks are negotiated rather than metered, so agree the fare first, and LOCA, the licensed Lao ride-hailing app, prices the trip for you. [LOCA](https://loca.la/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Vientiane at a glance - **Country:** Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) - **Region:** Mekong valley, central Laos, on the Thai border - **Population:** 820,940 in Vientiane Capital (2015 census, Lao Statistics Bureau) - **Founded:** Capital of the Lan Xang kingdom from 1560, of Laos since the French protectorate - **Name:** From viang (walled city) and chan, from the Sanskrit for sandalwood, so the walled city of sandalwood - **Language:** Lao. French survives on street signs and in older institutions, English is common in tourism - **Currency:** Lao kip (LAK). Thai baht and US dollars are taken in some tourist businesses - **Time zone:** Indochina Time (UTC+7), no daylight saving - **Calling code:** +856, with 21 for Vientiane - **Airport:** Wattay International (VTE), about 3 km from the centre - **Power:** 230 V, 50 Hz. Sockets take European round pins and flat American pins - **Emergency:** 191 police, 195 ambulance, 190 fire ## Interesting facts - The name reads as the walled city of sandalwood: viang for a walled city, chan from the Sanskrit candana. - Patuxai went up between 1957 and 1968 using cement the United States had supplied for an airport runway. - The Emerald Buddha in Bangkok was Vientiane's for two centuries. Setthathirath built Haw Phra Kaew for it; Siam took it in 1779. - Between 1964 and 1973 around two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos, and much of it did not go off. - The Laos-China Railway opened in December 2021 and gave a country with almost no track more than 400 km of it, to the Chinese border. ## Vientiane travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Vientiane? Two full days covers the city comfortably: one for the temples, COPE and the riverfront, one for Buddha Park and the markets. A third is worth adding only if you want the museums out at Xaythany or a day trip to Vang Vieng or Phou Khao Khouay. ### Do I need a visa for Laos? Most nationalities do, and there are two routes. Visa on arrival is issued at Wattay airport and at the first Friendship Bridge for up to 30 days, extendable once. The alternative is the government's own eVisa, applied for before travel, which is worth doing in high season. ### When is the best time to visit Vientiane? November to February. The cool dry season brings clear skies and nights that actually cool down. March to May is the hottest stretch of the year, and May to October is the wet season, when rain tends to arrive in heavy afternoon bursts rather than all day. ### How do you get from Vientiane to Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang? By train on the Laos-China Railway, which reaches Vang Vieng in about an hour and Luang Prabang in under two. The station is 15 km northeast of the centre, seats go on sale three days ahead and sell out, and the operator's app is the only online channel. Buses still run the same routes more slowly. ### Is Vientiane worth visiting, or should you go straight to Luang Prabang? Worth visiting, but for different reasons. Luang Prabang is the set piece; Vientiane is a working capital where the history is contested rather than curated. Wat Sisaket, Haw Phra Kaew and COPE tell you more about what happened to Laos than anywhere else in the country, and they take one day. ## Nearby guides - [Luang Prabang](https://wimup.com/city/luang-prabang.md): Laos · 10 picks - [Chiang Rai](https://wimup.com/city/chiang-rai.md): Thailand · 10 picks - [Chiang Mai](https://wimup.com/city/chiang-mai.md): Thailand · 10 picks - [All of Asia →](https://wimup.com/asia): 109 cities Part of the [Laos guide](https://wimup.com/country/laos.md) · [Asia](https://wimup.com/asia.md) ## Sources - [Vientiane tourism board](https://www.tourismlaos.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [COPE Visitor Centre (official site)](https://copelaos.org/visit-us/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Wattay International Airport: Lao Airlines](https://www.laoairlines.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Getting around the city: LOCA](https://loca.la/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.