Vietnam Laos: Complete Guide for First-time Travelers

Vietnam and Laos are 2 countries of the Indochina area. Each country has its own beauty, but they have some similarities such as friendly people and special traditional cultures. The trip can be a new interesting experience for you. If you are still hesitating about this route, take a closer look at a lot of useful information about it from BestPrice in this article, and you will make a decision more easily.

An overview of Vietnam Laos

Vietnam and Laos are the neighboring countries having a borderline of 2.067 kilometers in Northwestern Vietnam. This line borders 10 provinces in Vietnam and 11 provinces in Laos. Therefore, these 2 countries have had a close friendship for many years.

Laos

Laos is a developing country in Asia and is a landlocked country (the only country with a sea in Asia). But that disadvantage can’t stop it from developing, especially in tourism. Laos attracts more tourists every year, thanks to beautiful forest landscapes of high mountains, rivers, peaceful deltas, cool highlands,s and special religious cultures with many famous ancient architectures such as Luang Prabang, Wat Phu Khmer temple, which UNESCO recognizes as world heritage. 

Vietnam

Vietnam is fortunate with the affection of the Motherland when it has a lot of advantageous natural conditions such as diversified terrains, comfortable weather, and beautiful spots, which many of them are recognized to be world natural heritages or on the list of the most beautiful spots in the world. All make it very ideal for tourism development in Vietnam, and the proof is millions of tourists visiting this country every year.

In fact, Vietnam is a country impacted worst by the war in Asia. It has rehabilitated and developed the economy for 35 years. With the right policies and orientation, tourism in Vietnam develops rapidly. Visiting Vietnam, international tourists will be impressed deeply with beautiful landscapes, special traditional cultures, and proud history here. 

When to visit Laos and Vietnam?

In fact, time for your traveling is optional. It’s mainly up to your vacations, more than other factors. But to find the best time to visit Laos and Vietnam, the weather and climate may be the determinant. Here is some useful information about them.

Laos

The main climate of Laos is tropical savanna. There is an area in the North having a humid tropical climate, and one in the Southeast has a monsoon climate. Basically, Laos has 3 seasons.

• Rainy season: from May to November 
• Cool dry season: from December to February
• Hot, dry season: from March to April

With this division, we can see that the ideal time for traveling to Laos is from December to February (cool dry season).

Vietnam 

In general, Vietnam has a monsoon tropical climate. But each area with different natural conditions can lead to different types of climate. In the North, the typical climate is humid tropical with 4 distinct seasons in a year. In the South, the tropical savanna climate is decisive. This difference explains why Northern Vietnam has cold winters and hot summers while Southern Vietnam doesn’t have much variation in weather in these periods of the year. However, the rain regime in the whole country can be divided into 2 seasons.

• Rainy season: from April to October 
• Dry season: from November to March

The ideal time to visit Vietnam is in the dry season. But if you want to visit the North, you should travel in autumn (November) or spring (March) to have the best weather.

After seeing an overview of the weather in both countries we could say that the best time to visit Laos and Vietnam is between November to March next year.

Top-recommended Laos, Vietnam places to visit

Places to visit are always the top determinant of whether your trip is successful or not. There are dozens of attractions for tourism in a country you can visit, but of course, you don’t have enough time to do that. So, let’s think about the typical ones and here are some suggestions in both Vietnam and Laos which can help you make a decision.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang formally is Laos's capital is the pride of Laotian when being recognized as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1995. This city is a combination of Buddha religious culture, imperial land, and beautiful landscapes. It’s also the harmony of urban and rural style with French influence in the 19th century. 

These unique features make Luang Prabang very attractive to tourists. When visiting here, you can’t skip imposing architectures such as palaces, temples, and pagodas, which deeply reflect the culture of Laotian, especially art and religion. Some of them are Haw Kham, Wat Aham, Wat Manorom. Besides, you can visit peaceful villages here to have a closer look at locals' daily lives here, such as Khokmanh village, Yang village. Quang Xi waterfall is also an attractive attraction for tourists in Luang Prabang. 

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is a peaceful town in the North of the capital, which takes 4 hours to transfer from there by bus. With many policies to develop tourism, the Laos government invests more in new places with many favorable conditions for tourism. Vang Vieng is a typical case. Having marvelous sightseeings with Nam Song river, imposing Nam Xay mountain, etc., makes a beautiful space in a rural area for those who love adventure tourism and wild nature.

Vang Vieng is the favorite land of backpackers, and backpacking traveling is also the orientation in developing tourism. You can find many attractive outdoor games and sports such as zip lines, kayaking, inner tubing, diving, or swimming here. There are many restaurants, resorts, hotels, beer clubs to serve tourists. Overall, this town is an attractive destination for tourism that you should try on your trip to Laos. 

Vang Vieng

Vientiane

To visit a country, the capital is always the top destination you can’t skip. Because it’s usually the center of culture, economy, etc., reflecting the features hardly found in other countries. Vientiane is not an exception. This city is not just the capital of Laos, but also the place gathering many pagodas, a special feature making Laos also called “the country of the pagoda.” But the most typical one of them has to be That Luang, an impressive pagoda covered with gold. This Buddha religious spot symbolizes Laos or concretely art, architecture, and religion of this country. It also appears in the banknote and national flag of this country as the pride of Laotian. 

A special thing you can see in the architecture of Vientiane is the combination of traditional Laotian architecture and Indochina one, an influence of French. Near That Luang, there is an imposing statue named “Patuxay” (used to be “Anou Savary” before 1975) which has many similarities to Arc de Triomphe in Paris but also has unique Laos art. So, let’s come to Vientiane to look at art, religion, culture, and people, which are typical for this country.

Vientiane

Hanoi

In the same case as Vientiane, Hanoi is also the capital of Vietnam. Although having much influence of French in the period they dominated this city, Hanoi still keeps Vietnamese traditional cultures with many historical sites such as Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Thang Long imperial citadel, etc. This capital is more than 1000 years old, with many feudal dynasties. Thus, it’s also where the Vietnamese lifestyle is original. You can feel it deeply by trying a pedicab to travel around Old Quarters, an area mostly in Hoan Kiem district, which is always the top place to visit in Hanoi, or try wonderful cuisine here with traditional food.

Hanoi is also the land of long-standing villages producing many high-quality goods by the skillful hands of craftsmen. Some of them used to be specialized goods for the royal. Besides, there are many beautiful spots in Hanoi, such as Guom lake, Ho Tay lake, etc., giving you various options for your trip here.

Hanoi

Halong Bay

Having just developed tourism in recent years but with high speed, Vietnam is one of the most attractive countries for tourism in Asia. Thanks to many marvelous landscapes that seem to be too beautiful to be true in real life. And Halong Bay is one of them. It’s a rare spot recognized twice by UNESCO as a world natural heritage, once for aesthetic value and once for geological value. When visiting here, you will be impressed by many mountains on the sea, with random sizes and shapes, but all make a general look fantastic. Of course, it is also one of the most beautiful ones in the world with the amazing Halong Bay Cruise.

With such fame, it’s obvious that the government invests much in developing tourism here, attracting many service providers to have businesses here. Thanks to that, you have many choices for entertainment such as zip lines, kayaking, snorkeling, etc., exciting water games, and sports. 

Amazing Halong Bay Cruise

Mekong Delta

If you want a new landscape to explore in Vietnam, Mekong Delta can be a good choice. It’s a wide area having an interlace canal system. Thus you can easily see peaceful places with many small canals flowing around. Good soil and mild weather make a diversified ecosystem. It can explain why people prefer ecotourism when they visit the Mekong Delta. 

Living in harmony with nature, people here are very friendly, hospitably and extremely generous. It’s another lifestyle of Vietnamese, which is very impressive and lovely. Mekong Delta also has many traditional villages producing delicious specialties such as sweets, cakes, and more, which you can buy as souvenirs for your friends and family. 

Mekong Delta

Book your first Vietnam, Laos tour

Laos and Vietnam are neighboring countries. Thus, transferring between these countries is easier, especially when you can go to Laos from Vietnam by bus and vice versa. A few transportation service providers are offering direct buses from Hanoi to Vientiane. It’s a convenient and economical choice that you can try instead of flights. 

If you can stand long trips traveling by bus and save money, you can visit Laos and Vietnam just by this vehicle. But if you want to save time and not have to pass long trips, flights are obviously a good choice. Don’t worry much about its cost. You have many ways to fight with a lower ticket price. One of them is choosing a tour for your Vietnam, Laos trip, and all costs are included. 

If you still waver about places to visit in these 2 countries, think about top-recommended Laos, Vietnam ones above. And we have suggested itineraries set for the geographical order like that: 

• Starting point in Vietnam: Mekong Delta -> Halong Bay -> Hanoi -> Vientiane -> Vang Vieng -> Luang Phabang.
• Starting point in Laos: Luang Phabang -> Vang Vieng -> Vientiane -> Hanoi -> Halong bay -> Mekong Delta.

More than a reason, you should book a Vietnam Laos tour for your first time traveling to 2 countries on a trip. 

• It will be a long trip with many places to visit. Booking a tour from a prestigious travel agency can help you have a more concrete itinerary to save time and avoid over-transferring.
• All essential costs are included. 
• You are assured to be safe and have correct knowledge about the new land with a friendly guide. 

Thus, find a good travel agency to book your first Vietnam, Laos tour. With branches in many countries, especially 2 branches in Vietnam and one in Laos, BestPrice is confident to be one of the best travel agencies to give you a wonderful tour to Vietnam and Laos.

Vietnam, Laos trip is a new exciting choice for your next long vacation. The beauty of nature, culture, and people there will never let you down. Think about this trip as a way to relax, entertain, and broaden your knowledge about these countries. Hopefully, you find the information in this article useful for you. Let BestPrice Travel help you to have a wonderful trip. Thanks for your reading!

Nhat Anh

Image Source: Internet