Our guide will welcome you at the airport outside the baggage-claim area and then take you to the pre-booked hotel. Begin to get a feel for authentic Laos by attending a Baci Ceremony at a local house (taking around 90 minutes), before exploring traditional food, crafts and souvenirs on sale at the night market.

Meals included: None

A tour of the Old Town takes in the city’s oldest temples of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong, with its roofs sweeping low to the ground in classical Laotian architectural style. Learn more about the ethnic culture from perspective of an American by a private tour at TAEC Center. After lunch, on a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, enjoy breathtaking views through the tranquil countryside, before exploring the mysterious Pak Ou Caves. Here two linked caves are crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

Take in the rural scenery of farms and villages on a short trip to the Hmong ethnic community of Ban Long Lao Kao. Here you will have the opportunity to visit the people and take in the sights of the village, before hiking to the famous Khuang Si waterfalls, walking through vegetable gardens, rice fields and tropical forests under the shade of hardwood trees, such as rosewood and ebony. Reward awaits your arrival at the falls, where a delicious picnic can be enjoyed in the natural surroundings of the area. Rest awhile, or go swimming in the aqua pools, before heading back to Luang Prabang, on the way calling into the Ock Opo Tok Centre to examine fine Laotian textiles.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

You will then be driven to the airport to catch the flight heading for Vientiane. Upon arrival, the local guide there will pick you up and take you to the hotel, leaving the rest of the day free to enjoy at your leisure.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

In the afternoon, on a visit to the Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan), view a collection of hundreds of Buddha statues. Travelling through small, peaceful villages along Mekong River, enjoy the enchanting scenery on the way to the Mekong Friendship Bridge on the border of Laos and Thailand. Return to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

Resume the journey heading to the Bolaven Plateau, a picturesque area rising over 1,000 meters above sea level. Here you will find Tad Lo Waterfalls, where you can indulge your preferences for photographing the cascades, swimming in the pools, or riding an elephant. At the end of the day, return to Pakse.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the pre-Angkorian ruins of Vat Phou, one of the most prestigious temples from the Khmer Empire of the 11th to 13th centuries, a relic site said to parallel Angkor Wat. Next stop of the day will be the 4,000 islands region, called Si Phan Don in Laos, consisting of countless islands and islets. Destination today is Khong Island, the largest, inhabited by a few villages. Enjoy a relaxing walk along the beach.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

Where there is water, there are often waterfalls, especially in this elevated region, so continue hiking through the forest to experience the speed and volume of the Tad Somphamit (Liphi waterfalls). Continuing by car, arrive and wonder at the extraordinary scale of the Khone Phapheng waterfalls, the largest cascade along the Mekong River. Caused by a fault line, the cascade is 6 km wide at this point, where the tremendous force of the water has cut dramatic gorges through the brittle bedrock. Return to Pakse, on the way stopping at Phou Salao to enjoy the stunning view over Pakse.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

Following breakfast at the hotel, your guide will pick you up for transfer to the airport for your return flight.

The tour concludes here.

Meals included: Breakfast