14-day itinerary for Laos

I%26#39;m a long-time TA user, but my first time posting. We have a 2-week trip to Laos planned at the end of this month with three kids aged 6 to 12. I%26#39;ve already used a lot of advice from the TA experts in planning, but just wanted to check our itinerary to see whether we are missing anything great or planning too much or too little time anyplace.

Day 1 - Arrive early, Vientiane city and temples

Day 2 - Day trip to Phou Khao Khouay/Tad Leuk/Tad Se

Day 3 - Fly to Pakse, transfer to Don Khone, relax

Day 4 - Don Khone waterfalls and dolphins

Day 5 - Transfer to Pakse, visit Wat Phou

Day 6 - Day trip - Tad Fan or Tad Lo falls

Day 7 - Day trip - elephant trek to Phu Asa

Day 8 - More Wat Phou, fly to Luang Prabang

Day 9 - Luang Prabang city and temples

Day 10 - Tad Kwang Si falls

Day 11 - More LP sites

Day 12 - Pak Ou caves, relax around LP

Day 13 - Fly to Vientiane, more city %26amp; temples

Day 14 - More Vientiane

Day 15 - Fly home

We decided to skip Vang Vieng since it sounded way too touristy. We%26#39;ve seen the beautiful karst limestone formations in Halong Bay, Vietnam, so it seemed OK to miss.

Also decided to skip the Plain of Jars, even though it sounds wonderful. Too expensive for more flights and didn%26#39;t want to lose an entire day on the bus.

Do we have too many days in Luang Prabang, and would it be better to spend another in Vientiane or somewhere else? We%26#39;ve booked all the hotels and guesthouses, but no tours or day trips, since we figured those would be easy to do from there. Is this correct, or are there things we should book ahead of time?

Thanks for all the great advice over the years. My favorite website!

14-day itinerary for Laos

Itinerary sounds good, but if you think Vang Vieng is too touristy, wait till you get to Luang Prabang! Both places are very much worth visiting, and the scenery in VV is just amazing.

You%26#39;re right that the Plain of Jars is out of the way, but definitely plan to see the area you rnext time %26#39;round. There is nothing like it! Have fun!

14-day itinerary for Laos

Thanks for your insights. Now I%26#39;m thinking that if VV is that nice (and LP that touristy!) maybe I should rearrange the last few days like this:

Day 11 - Pak Ou caves and more LP, fly to Vientiane

Day 12 - Early bus to VV, caves

Day 13 - Tubing, more caves, late bus to Vientiane

Is a little over a day enough to get a flavor of VV, and are late afternoon/evening buses to Vientiane easy to find? Am I cutting it too short in LP? Also, for the VV caves, is it better to get a tour like Green Discovery or just a tuk tuk and see them on your own?

There are just so many great-sounding places in Laos. Can%26#39;t wait to be there!

Itinerary sounds good, but would maybe spend one less day in Vientiane and use this extra day for Vang Vieng so yu don%26#39;t have to cut down on your time in Luang Prabang so much. Both Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang are touristy by Lao standards, but well worth the trip. The town of Vang Vieng itelf is not particularly attractive, but the location is amazing and there are plenty of activities available (trekking, rock climbing, kayaking, tubing, biking etc) to get you out into the countryside.

I would not cut one day from Vientiane. Vientiane has a lot to offer. Far more than Vang Vieng imo.

Actually, yes, I think we do want to spend the extra day in Vientiane, because I feel like we are cutting Vientiane too short already, and we want some time to just relax and hang out, since it sounds like a nice city. Tell me, do you think Phou Khao Khouay is worth a full day? It%26#39;s a bit expensive for a day tour, and it sounds like the main thing to see are the waterfalls, which may only be a trickle this time of year.

Another reason I doubt Phou Khao Khouay is that we have lots of other waterfalls on the plan - Tad Kwang Si, Tad Fan/Yeung, Khong Phapang/Li Phi. Are these really a must see?

It is pretty dry here at the moment. I don%26#39;t know how much water there would be around.