Getting to Laos

 To travel to Laos, you have many options depending on where you depart from, which parts of Laos you plan to arrive in, plus your personal budget and how you want to travel, by plane, train, road or water.

Documents required

A passport with six months' validity is the only real prerequisite for entering Laos. For most nationalities it is possible to obtain a visa on arrival (for one month) at most ports of entry. You will need to have two passport sized photographs to obtain this visa. Costs vary with nationality.

However some nationalities do still require a visa in advance and it is advisable to check here or the Lao immigration website (www.immigration.gov.la) to make sure before you leave home.

By Plane

Lao Airports

In Laos, there are 4 international airports, one in the north of the county, two in central, and one in the south.

Here is the list of the international airports from north to south.

Airlines Serving Laos

International Flights direct to/from:

For detailed flight schedules please visit the airlines own websites.

Lao Airline flight schedules

Tip: Lao Airlines' full flight schedules (in pdf) is available on its website (www.laoairlines.com/flights). Once on the site look on the left (for picture as seen here) then click to download.

Lao departure tax (US$10) for international flights is no longer payable at the airport, it is incorporated in the ticket cost.

Flying into Laos from the rest of the world is not direct and involves at least one stop-over or a change of plane.

If you plan to travel to Laos from the US, Europe, Australia or other corners of the world you should book your ticket to cover the whole trip, most travel agencies can help you with this. This way not only can you have your luggage sent direct to Lao airport, you can also receive connecting fare discounts. And if you miss your connecting flight the airlines will take care of the matter, so you don't have to run around trying to solve the problems yourself.

If you search Lao flights online, put VTE, LPQ, ZVK or PKZ (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet or Pakse respectively) as your destination. There will be several options (routes) for you to choose from, some flights are via Bangkok and some via Hanoi. The Bangkok route is the most popular one.

Many people save money by flying to Bangkok and then fly domestically from Bangkok into Udon Thani in Thailand (a Thai province, 55km from Thai/Lao border). Then travel to Laos by land crossing the border at Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. Others chose to book tickets online to save.

Although flying domestically (Bangkok-Udon Thani) then cross the border by land to Laos is cheaper, it takes at least 2 hours longer than a direct Bangkok-Vientiane flight, that's a trade off. Not to mention you having to check out your luggages and navigate to domestic terminal.

Note: Now all Thai domestic flights are from Don Muang, the old Bangkok airport.

By Land

Laos shares land and/or river borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar. It is possible to travel to Laos crossing borders from these countries except from Myanmar (foreigners cannot legally cross the Laos/Myanmar border). Visa on arrival is available at most border check points. Check out Laos border page for more info

Most crossings involve changing transport at the border, some involves a boat trip across the Mekong.

Driving your vehicle

It’s possible to drive your own vehicle into Laos from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China (up till now driving from Myanmar into Laos not yet possible).

To drive crossing the border into Laos, proper documents including Carnet de Passage and driving license are required. If the vehicle is registered in someone else's name, who is not travelling with you, a written permission is neccessary.

It's also important to have insurance although the authority at the border sometimes don't borther asking, it's your responsibility to make sure you'll not run into trouble if you happen to be involve in an accident.

Riding motobike or bicycle

Motocycling or bicycling into the country is also possible with the right paperwork of course. If you want to take bicycle trip into Laos you might find this site useful bicycle-adventures.com.

Train

It's finally possible to travel to Laos by train though this can be the shortest cross country train trip you ever have (the railway is only about 3km long).

The first rail link across the Mekong from the Thai town of Nong Khai to Tha Naleng, some 13km away from Vientiane, opened in 2009. There are two shuttle services daily. Lao Visa on arrival is available at the train station.Tha Naleng train station, Laos.

The shuttle trains are timed to connect with overnight trains to and from Bangkok, with around 90 minutes buffer time at the Thai side of the border for buying tickets and immigration.

Apart from this Thai-Lao train, there isn't a train to/from other neighbouring countries at the moment. However, a high-speed train to/from China is planned. The construction of the railway is initially scheduled to begin early 2011, but it has been put on hold since.

Bus

There are bus services crossing the border to/from neighbouring countries, Thailand, Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and few other places) Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City) and China (Kunming). Visit International Buses page for more information.

By Boat

Boat trips into Laos are from Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar on the Mekong River.

Crossing to/from northern Thailand at Chiang Khong on the Thai side of the Mekong and Huay Xai on the Laos side is popular with travellers coming from northern Thailand. This is the starting point for two-day boat trips to Luang Prabang.

Boat trips to/from Cambodia: Stung Treng - Veun Kham border checkpoint was the international border checkpoint (crossing Mekong River). This check point has been closed since the new Dong Kralor-Veun Kham check point was opened.

There is no immigration office at the Stung Treng - Veun Kham crossing, that means foreigners can no longer cross the river to Laos from Cambodia or vice versa, unless they do it illegally. Locals can still cross the border at this border crossing point.  View Lao border page for more details.

There is a crossing to/from Myanmar, Xieng Kok on the Mekong to north of Huay Xai in Laos, but at present foreigners cannot legally cross between Laos and Myanmar. To travel to Laos from Myanmar, foreigners need to go via Thailand or other Laos' neighbour countries.

Whichever way you chose to travel to Laos have a pleasant journey!

 

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