For a city almost everyone only passes through, Vientiane has a surprising amount on the list. A golden stupa, a sculpture garden full of concrete, a museum you will not forget in a hurry and a riverfront that only really gets going after six. That is more than fits into the day and a half most backpackers spend here, and it does not need to.
A few things genuinely belong on it: the sun sinking behind Thailand, the COPE centre and one morning among the temples. Others look great in photos and fill half a day nicely, although a cafe terrace and a bicycle might be the best way to spend your time here. Vientiane does not reward you for rushing.
So where do your Vientiane days go, and what do you save for next time?
Below are the places themselves. Where to sleep, how to get around and how many days to give it are all on our Vientiane page.
Sunset and the night market on the Mekong
This is what gets you out of your hostel in the evening, and for us it is the best hour in the city. Around sunset half of Vientiane heads for the promenade along the river: joggers, families, stalls unpacking and the sun dropping straight behind Thailand on the far bank.
Once it gets dark the night market is up: red tents with clothes and souvenirs, and behind them the carts with grills and papaya salad. A euro or two gets you a full plate, and a beer costs about a euro. There is nothing to book and nothing to plan. You just stand wherever it smells of charcoal.
Come early enough for the light, not once it is already dark. Turn up at nine and you still get the market, but you miss the sunset over the Mekong, and that is the whole point here.
Our verdict: absolutely, and ideally every evening you are in town
The COPE Visitor Centre
Of everything you can see in Vientiane, this is the visit that stays with you. So much was dropped on this country during the war that there is still unexploded ordnance in the ground, and it is still hurting people today. COPE shows what that does to a life and makes the prosthetic limbs for those who survived an explosion.
Entry is free. Allow an hour, maybe an hour and a half if you sit through the films. It is in the centre, so you can cycle or walk there from most hostels and there is nothing to arrange beforehand.
Do not squeeze it in just before a bus. A lot of travellers find they are not in the mood to tick off another temple straight afterwards, and that says a lot about the place.
Our verdict: a must, even if you only have one day
Pha That Luang
The golden stupa is the national symbol of Laos, and you will see it on the money. In real life what strikes you most is how empty it is around it: a huge square, a golden spire in the sun and usually only a handful of other visitors.
It sits a few kilometres outside the centre, so this is the ride where you do grab a bicycle or a tuk-tuk. Agree the price first or use the LOCA app, because a tuk-tuk ride here should be around €2, not well above it.
Cover your shoulders and knees, even when it is forty degrees. At Pha That Luang and the temples in the centre they really do check.
Our verdict: absolutely, and an hour is just right
Buddha Park
Twenty-five kilometres out of the city there is a field full of concrete statues: Buddhas, Hindu gods and structures you can climb inside, all packed close together. It is strange, it is not old, and that is exactly why it is one of the best trips out of Vientiane.
You can get there on your own, but most backpackers do it as part of a cultural city tour that combines Buddha Park with the Patuxai and the temples. That saves you the planning and you are done in half a day.
Plan it for your second day, together with COPE. That keeps your first day free for the centre and the river, and you never have to rush.
Our verdict: a great extra if you have two days
Wat Si Saket
When the city was destroyed in 1828, this was the only temple left standing, which makes it the oldest one still there. The walls around the courtyard hold thousands of small Buddha statues in niches, row after row, and it is a sight a photo never quite captures.
It is in the centre, within walking distance of most hostels, so it pairs easily with a morning walk along the promenade. Allow half an hour to an hour.
Go early in the morning. It is cool, the sun is low in the gallery and you often have the courtyard almost to yourself.
Our verdict: go, and if you only do one temple, make it this one
Cycling around the centre
Vientiane is small and pancake flat, which makes it one of the few capitals in Southeast Asia where cycling is genuinely relaxed. No sea of scooters, wide boulevards and room everywhere to stop for a moment.
On a bicycle you do the temples, the Patuxai, the river and the area around the fountain in a single morning, without haggling over a single fare. You can rent one in the centre in no time and it makes the rest of your day better.
On your last morning, ride a bit further than you planned, into the neighbourhoods behind the Patuxai. That is where the tourist side of the city stops and you see where Vientiane’s 950,000 people do their shopping.
Our verdict: not an activity on its own, but the way to do everything else
Food: a bakery and a charcoal grill on the same day
Nowhere in Laos bakes as well as Vientiane, and that is a direct legacy of the French. Khao jee, the Lao baguette, is sold on the street and beats anything you ate on a bus in the weeks before.
In the evening it goes the other way: laap with herbs and lime, tam mak hoong or papaya salad, sticky rice out of the basket and Mekong fish off the charcoal grill. A meal costs about €2, so you can easily eat out three times a day and still stay under a daily budget of €18.
Start your morning around the fountain, where the coffee places and bakeries are, and eat by the river in the evening. That is the whole city in two meals.
Our verdict: absolutely, and buy a second baguette for the road
Got time to spare in Vientiane?
Up the Patuxai
The 45-metre victory arch comes with a great story: the cement came from the Americans and was actually meant for a runway. It is at its most impressive from below, and from the top you look out over the wide boulevard and the rooftops of the city. A fun one to do while you are walking past anyway.
A third day in Vientiane
Two days is the sweet spot here, and that is just enough to see everything at your own pace. If you simply want a rest after a long bus ride, a third day with a book by the Mekong is time well spent. Keen to move on? Vang Vieng is an hour away on the fast train and Luang Prabang two.
Getting around the centre
The centre is compact and completely flat, so you can walk or cycle everywhere inside it, and a bicycle costs next to nothing. Save the tuk-tuk for Pha That Luang and the ride to the train station, and agree a price before you get in.
Evenings by the river
Vientiane goes quiet by about ten, and that is exactly what makes the evenings here so relaxed: the night market along the Mekong, a Beerlao by the water and the sun sinking behind Thailand. Fancy a longer night? Then Vang Vieng is your next stop.
Our top five in Vientiane
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- Sunset on the Mekong, then the night market on the promenade
- The COPE centre, free and the visit that stays with you longest
- Pha That Luang, the golden stupa from the money
- Buddha Park, 25 kilometres outside the city
- Wat Si Saket early in the morning, with its thousands of Buddha statues
Still got time after that? Wander the local markets in the centre looking for street food. And spend at least one morning just sitting in a French bakery around the fountain, because here that counts as a sight too.
So what do you really have to do in Vientiane?
Honestly? Not much. Vientiane is not a city you tick off, and the travellers who get the most out of it are almost always the ones who planned the least. This list is here to help you choose, not to fill every hour of your day and a half.
If we had to pick just one thing: go to COPE. It costs nothing, it takes an hour and it explains why this country looks the way it does. Of everything you can do in Laos, this is the one you will still be telling people about a year from now.
And keep your last evening free for the river. Buy a plate of papaya salad from a cart, sit on the edge of the promenade and watch the sun go down behind Thailand. That is exactly as much Vientiane as you need.
