What does a trip to Laos really cost?
The cost of a trip to Laos is easier to answer honestly than the same question about Japan or India, because Laos has fewer moving parts. One town where accommodation is genuinely expensive, one railway line, a lot of road, and food that costs almost nothing. Once you have those four facts the arith
Everything below is land only, per person, based on two people sharing a room. It excludes international flights, because those depend entirely on where you fly from. It includes accommodation, food, ground transport, entries and the guiding we would normally build in.
The four daily anchors
These are the numbers our consultants price against, and they are the same figures published in our complete Laos guide, because the guide and the magazine should not contradict each other.
| Style | What it looks like | Per person, per day |
|---|---|---|
| Careful | Guesthouses and simple hotels, mostly independent days, shared transfers and public boats, no guiding | $95 |
| Comfortable | Good three to four star hotels, a private car on transfer days, guiding where it changes the day | $155 |
| Boutique | The best small hotels in Luang Prabang, private boats, a guide on most days | $265 |
| Luxury | Top-tier properties, private vehicle and guide throughout, flights instead of long drives | $460 |
Multiplied out, for the trip lengths that actually work here:
| Style | 10 days | 14 days | 21 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Careful | $950 | $1,330 | $1,995 |
| Comfortable | $1,550 | $2,170 | $3,255 |
| Boutique | $2,650 | $3,710 | $5,565 |
| Luxury | $4,600 | $6,440 | $9,660 |
Laos is the cheapest country in our library at the careful end and it is not the cheapest at the top end, because there are only a handful of genuinely luxury properties and they price like scarcity. The gap between careful and comfortable is almost entirely transport: the difference between waiting for a shared minivan and having a car and a driver who knows the road.
Accommodation, which is where Laos surprises people
Rates below are per room per night for two sharing, as a planning range rather than a quote. We confirm live rates for your dates before anything is booked, because Luang Prabang in December does not price like Luang Prabang in June.
| Type | What you get | Per room, per night |
|---|---|---|
| Guesthouse, Luang Prabang | Clean, simple, fan or basic air conditioning, often family run | $25 to $45 |
| Good three star, Luang Prabang | A proper room, breakfast, walking distance to the peninsula | $70 to $120 |
| Heritage boutique, Luang Prabang | A converted French colonial house or a small design property, ten to twenty rooms | $180 to $320 |
| Luxury, Luang Prabang | The two or three properties everyone names | $450 and up |
| Vientiane, mid-range | Functional international hotel, business district | $55 to $95 |
| Nong Khiaw river bungalow | Simple, a balcony over the water, intermittent hot water | $30 to $70 |
| Nong Khiaw, the better lodges | Comfortable, still simple, superb position | $110 to $180 |
| Bolaven and Pakse | Coffee farm guesthouse or a solid town hotel | $35 to $80 |
| Si Phan Don, river islands | Fan bungalow, cold shower, power cuts | $20 to $50 |
The line that catches people out is Luang Prabang. The heritage zone is protected, the good hotels are small, and December and January sell out four to six months ahead. The same room in June can be half the price, so moving flexible dates is the single largest saving available to you, larger than any decision about hotel category.
Everywhere else is simple, and we say so in writing rather than describing a fan room as rustic charm. In the far north and on the river islands you are paying for the position and not for the plumbing.
Food, which is almost free
A bowl of khao soi in Luang Prabang, which in Laos is a rice noodle soup with a fermented soybean and pork sauce and nothing like the Thai dish of the same name, costs a couple of dollars.
- Noodle soup at a morning stall: $1.50 to $3
- Baguette sandwich, a legacy of the French period: $2 to $3
- Lunch at a local restaurant with a Beerlao: $5 to $8
- Dinner at a good tourist-facing restaurant in Luang Prabang: $12 to $22 a head
- Dinner at one of the two or three serious restaurants in the country: $40 to $70
- A large Beerlao: $1.50 to $2.50
A realistic daily food budget for someone eating widely is $20 to $30. At the boutique tier it rises, not because the food costs more but because you eat more meals in hotels. You do not need to spend to eat well here, and we would rather you spent the difference on a boat.
Transport, the line that separates the tiers
The railway. The Vientiane to Luang Prabang leg costs roughly $20 to $35 per person depending on class, which is trivial. Getting a seat is not. Booking windows are short and popular services fill within hours in high season, so we book on the day the window opens. Budget for a transfer at each end, because the stations are not in the towns: Luang Prabang’s sits roughly 7 miles (11 km) from the heritage peninsula.
Private car and driver. Around $90 to $150 a day including fuel, depending on the route. On mountain sections you are paying for time rather than distance, because the working average outside the rail corridor is 25 to 30 miles an hour (40 to 50 km/h).
Domestic flights. Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Pakse are connected by Lao Airlines, usually $90 to $170 one way. Reaching the south by air rather than road buys a day, and on a ten-day trip that is normally the right trade.
Boats. The public slow boat from Huay Xai on the Thai border to Luang Prabang is two days with an overnight in Pakbeng and costs around $35 to $50 per person. It is cheap, crowded and made of hard benches. A private or semi-private boat on the same route is a completely different experience at several hundred dollars for the boat. A private long-tail for a sunset or a half day upriver from Luang Prabang runs $60 to $150 for the boat, not per person, and it is one of the best things you can buy here.
Guiding. A licensed English-speaking guide is $45 to $80 a day, and we do not put one on every day. Laos rewards unstructured mornings, and a guide earns their fee where context changes what you are looking at: the alms round briefing, the Plain of Jars, a weaving village, a coffee farm.
Three complete ten-day budgets
Each is ten days, per person, two sharing, land only.
The careful trip, about $950
Guesthouses throughout, the train south to north, public boats, independent days, and eating at noodle stalls and local restaurants.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 9 nights | $310 |
| Food | $250 |
| Transport including rail and shared transfers | $270 |
| Entries and incidentals | $120 |
| Total | $950 |
The comfortable trip, about $1,550
Good three to four star hotels, a private car and driver on every transfer day, rail on the corridor, three guided days, and one private boat afternoon.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 9 nights | $640 |
| Food | $300 |
| Private car, rail and transfers | $370 |
| Guiding, three days | $180 |
| Entries, boat and incidentals | $60 |
| Total | $1,550 |
This is the shape of trip we build most often and it maps onto classic Laos in 10 days.
The boutique trip, about $2,650
The best small heritage properties in Luang Prabang, a private boat on the Mekong, a flight rather than a drive to the south, and a guide on most days.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 9 nights | $1,550 |
| Food | $400 |
| Flights, private car and rail | $420 |
| Guiding and private boats | $220 |
| Entries and incidentals | $60 |
| Total | $2,650 |
See boutique Laos in 10 days for what that looks like day by day.
The four decisions that actually move the number
- The month. Luang Prabang in late December and January can double on accommodation alone. June is the same town at half the rate.
- Flying versus driving to the south. About $150 per person, and it saves a full day of road.
- Private boats. A real line item, and the one we would protect if the budget were tight.
- How many regions you attempt. Every extra region adds a transfer day, and a transfer day here costs money and buys nothing. That is the argument in how many days do you need in Laos.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates, your rough budget and the shape of trip you have in mind, and a Laos specialist will build you a first outline with real hotels and real numbers. Free, and with no obligation.
Keep reading
- Laos: the complete guide to planning your trip
- How many days do you need in Laos?
- Laos month by month
- What we would skip in Laos
- Classic Laos in 10 days
- All our Laos trips
Frequently asked questions
Is Laos cheaper than Vietnam or Thailand?
How much cash should we carry?
Do these figures include international flights?
When do you confirm the real prices?
Plan a trip to Laos is the slowest country in the region, and that is the point All Laos is the slowest country in the region, and that is the point trips
