Luang Prabang travel guide

Laos · Top sights · trending spots

Luang Prabang sits on a spit between the Mekong and the Nam Khan, was the royal capital of Laos, and has been World Heritage since 1995 — gilded temple roofs, French shutters, and no building taller than a palm.

At dawn monks walk in file to receive rice, a ceremony best watched from a distance and quietly. Kuang Si falls drop through pools of milky turquoise, and Phousi hill takes the sunset over the river.

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Next long-break window · based on public holidays in United States11.26 – 11.291 leave → 4 daysPlan this trip

Top 10 sights in Luang Prabang

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

© Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Xieng Thong
A temple at the tip of the Luang Prabang peninsula, built between 1559 and 1560 and never destroyed in the sackings that followed. Its roofs sweep almost to the ground, and a tree of life in coloured glass covers the rear wall.
Tiqets Klook
© Allie Caulfield · CC BY 2.0
Royal Palace, Luang Prabang
A palace built in 1904 for the king of Luang Prabang, and a museum since the monarchy ended in 1975. It holds the Phra Bang, the gold Buddha the city is named after, along with the royal apartments left as they were.
Tiqets Klook
© Walter.jenner · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pak Ou Caves
Tham Ting, the lower cave, and Tham Theung, the upper, on the west bank of the Mekong twenty-five kilometres north of Luang Prabang. They are known for the small Buddha figures packed into them in their thousands.
Tiqets Klook
© Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Manorom
One of the oldest monasteries in Luang Prabang, founded either by King Samsenthai in the 1370s or a century later, depending on which account is followed. Its great seated bronze Buddha, six metres high and cast in the 1370s, outlasted the buildings raised around it.
Tiqets Klook
© Alcyon · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham
The largest temple in Luang Prabang, built at the end of the eighteenth century, its front covered in gilded relief telling village stories and episodes from the Ramayana. The Phra Bang was kept here for a century.
Tiqets Klook
© Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Sen
A Buddhist temple at Luang Prabang in Laos, also called Wat Sene Souk Haram. It is one of the dozens of temples lining the old capital.
Tiqets Klook
© Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Phol Phao
A forest meditation temple on a hill across the Nam Khan from Luang Prabang, its golden stupa painted inside with scenes of heaven and hell. A well-known Lao teacher was its abbot, and monks still retreat here.
Tiqets Klook
© Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vat Visounarath
The oldest temple still standing in Luang Prabang, founded in 1512 by King Visounarat and rebuilt after raiders burned it in 1887. In its grounds rises That Makmo, the watermelon stupa of 1514, a rounded dome unlike anything else in Laos.
Tiqets Klook
© Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Mahathat
A royal monastery founded in the 16th century near the Nam Khan, its ordination hall carrying carved and gilded doors beneath the low sweeping roof of the Luang Prabang manner. Monks from the surrounding quarter set out from here on the morning alms round.
Tiqets Klook
© Christophe95 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wat Suwanna Khili
A Theravada temple on Sakkarin road in the peninsula between the Mekong and the Khan, its name meaning golden mountain. UNESCO places its hall in the same Luang Prabang manner as Wat Xieng Thong, within the protected zone of the old town.
Tiqets Klook

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Top 10 sights in Luang Prabang

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

Wat Xieng Thong

A temple at the tip of the Luang Prabang peninsula, built between 1559 and 1560 and never destroyed in the sackings that followed. Its roofs sweep almost to the ground, and a tree of life in coloured glass covers the rear wall.

Tiqets

Klook

Royal Palace, Luang Prabang

A palace built in 1904 for the king of Luang Prabang, and a museum since the monarchy ended in 1975. It holds the Phra Bang, the gold Buddha the city is named after, along with the royal apartments left as they were.

Tiqets

Klook

Pak Ou Caves

Tham Ting, the lower cave, and Tham Theung, the upper, on the west bank of the Mekong twenty-five kilometres north of Luang Prabang. They are known for the small Buddha figures packed into them in their thousands.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Manorom

One of the oldest monasteries in Luang Prabang, founded either by King Samsenthai in the 1370s or a century later, depending on which account is followed. Its great seated bronze Buddha, six metres high and cast in the 1370s, outlasted the buildings raised around it.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham

The largest temple in Luang Prabang, built at the end of the eighteenth century, its front covered in gilded relief telling village stories and episodes from the Ramayana. The Phra Bang was kept here for a century.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Sen

A Buddhist temple at Luang Prabang in Laos, also called Wat Sene Souk Haram. It is one of the dozens of temples lining the old capital.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Phol Phao

A forest meditation temple on a hill across the Nam Khan from Luang Prabang, its golden stupa painted inside with scenes of heaven and hell. A well-known Lao teacher was its abbot, and monks still retreat here.

Tiqets

Klook

Vat Visounarath

The oldest temple still standing in Luang Prabang, founded in 1512 by King Visounarat and rebuilt after raiders burned it in 1887. In its grounds rises That Makmo, the watermelon stupa of 1514, a rounded dome unlike anything else in Laos.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Mahathat

A royal monastery founded in the 16th century near the Nam Khan, its ordination hall carrying carved and gilded doors beneath the low sweeping roof of the Luang Prabang manner. Monks from the surrounding quarter set out from here on the morning alms round.

Tiqets

Klook

Wat Suwanna Khili

A Theravada temple on Sakkarin road in the peninsula between the Mekong and the Khan, its name meaning golden mountain. UNESCO places its hall in the same Luang Prabang manner as Wat Xieng Thong, within the protected zone of the old town.

Tiqets

Klook