Vientiane splits into a city centre you can cover on foot and sights outside town that need a car. Two nights and three days is enough to finish the centre in a day and a half and spend half of the last day out of town. This plan is built around the opening hours of the attractions listed on this site. The listed hours of the temples and the victory arch are all 8 am to 5 pm (hours can change or include a break, so confirm on site), while the night markets only open in the evening, so the key is to put daytime sights in the day and the markets at night. Entrance fees change and are not listed here; check the ticket office on the day.
Day 1: arrival, the riverfront and the night markets
If you land in the afternoon, do not overpack the day. Getting from Wattay airport into the city is covered in our airport guide. Drop your bags and head to the Mekong riverfront around sunset. The riverside night market runs along the promenade near Chao Anouvong Park from 6 to 10 pm, with stalls selling clothes, souvenirs, handicrafts and street food. After the sunset, walk toward Nam Phou Fountain, where the street-food night market on Rue Hengboun is a few minutes away. It is open from 5 to 10 pm and sells skewers, noodles and omelette rice, which makes it an easy dinner. The two markets are a short walk apart, so they fit into the same evening.
Day 2 morning: Pha That Luang and Patuxai
Do the temples before the heat builds. Pha That Luang, the gold-covered stupa that is the national symbol of Laos, opens at 8 am. Each year around the November full moon its grounds host Boun That Luang, the country's largest religious festival. Patuxai, a victory arch built in the 1960s, has a staircase inside that climbs to a viewing platform over the city centre. Both are open from 8 am to 5 pm. Temples require covered shoulders and knees.
Day 2 afternoon: Wat Si Saket and Ho Phra Kaew
After lunch, visit two temples in the older part of the city on foot. Wat Si Saket, completed in 1818, is the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane, and its cloister walls are lined with thousands of small Buddha statues in niches. Directly across the road, Ho Phra Kaew is a former royal temple built in 1565 to house the Emerald Buddha, and it is now a museum of Lao Buddhist art. Both are open from 8 am to 5 pm. For dinner, go back to the riverfront or pick a cuisine from our restaurant guide.
Day 3: half a day out of town, Buddha Park or the Lao Art Museum Pick one place outside the city on the last day. Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) is a sculpture park on the Mekong riverbank about 25 km south of the city, with more than 200 concrete Buddhist and Hindu statues; the park dates from 1958. You can climb inside a pumpkin-shaped dome through levels meant to represent hell, earth and heaven and reach a rooftop view. It opens at 8 am from Monday to Saturday and at 10 am on Sunday, so keep that in mind if you go on a Sunday. The Lao Art Museum is a recently opened teak-wood complex on a lake about 18 km from the centre. It shows intricate wood carving, traditional painting and contemporary sculpture, and it is one of the few Vientiane attractions where tickets can be booked online. It is open from 8:30 am to 4 pm, so it closes earlier than Buddha Park.
How to adjust the plan
If you are taking the train to Vang Vieng, shorten day 3. Our train guide covers booking and the station, which is on the other side of the city. In the rainy season, move outdoor stops such as Buddha Park to the morning and use the afternoon for indoor ones, such as Ho Phra Kaew or the art museum. Monthly weather is in our best-time guide.
Getting around between stops
The centre is walkable between Nam Phou Fountain, the markets, Wat Si Saket and Ho Phra Kaew. Pha That Luang, Patuxai and the two out-of-town stops need a vehicle. LOCA shows the fare before you confirm, so there is no haggling; our getting-around guide compares the options.