11 DAYS | 10 NIGHTS
Laos is one of the most preserved countries in Southeast Asia. 70% of its territory is covered by forests, its conservation areas are home to endemic species, and its village communities still live in symbiosis with their natural environment. This 11-day ecotourism tour, designed by Asia Safari, is a total immersion into living Laos: protected areas, encounters with ethnic minorities, navigation on the Mekong, and direct support for local communities.
A tour designed for responsible travel
National conservation areas
Laos has 21 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas (NBCA). This tour crosses some of the most remarkable: Nam Et-Phou Louey in the northeast, Phou Hin Poun in the center, and the forests of Nam Ha. Asia Safari works with local guides from the communities, trained in the interpretation of fauna and flora.
Encounters with village communities
Authentic ecotourism is about connection. This tour includes homestays in Khmu, Hmong, and Lenten villages. Meals are prepared by families using products from their gardens. A portion of the tour revenue is donated directly to the communities.
Mekong biodiversity
The Mekong is one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world. This tour includes a day of slow navigation on the river, with observation of the riverbanks and floating gardens of Southern Laos.
Your questions about this ecotourism tour
Is ecotourism in Laos suitable for children?
Yes, from ages 8-10. Activities are accessible (light walking, dugout canoes, village visits) and educational. Asia Safari can adapt the tour for families.
What animal species can be observed in Laos?
Laos is home to white-cheeked gibbons, langurs, wild elephants, and kingfishers. Sightings are never guaranteed, but Asia Safari selects the most favorable areas and times.
Are homestays comfortable?
Homestay accommodations are simple but clean: mattress, mosquito net, outdoor sanitation. For travelers seeking more comfort, Asia Safari can alternate with small guesthouses.
How can I ensure the money truly benefits the communities?
Asia Safari works with local cooperatives and associations. A fixed portion of the tour fees goes directly to the host villages. We can provide you with details of the redistribution mechanism.
HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR TRIP
Luang Prabang and its temples
Discovery of local crafts at Ock Pop Tok
Pha Tad Ke Botanical Gardens
Encounters with silk weavers in a Tai Lue village
Walking, bathing, and caring for elephants
Pakse, its colonial quarter, and the giant of Mount Salao
Tea tasting and homestay on the Bolaven Plateau
The Baci Ceremony
Cycling on Don Daeng Island in Champassak
The splendid Vat Phou, UNESCO World Heritage site
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The adventure starts here!
Stopover: Luang Prabang
Arrival at Luang Prabang airport. Transfer and check-in at your hotel.
Stopover: Luang Prabang
Breakfast
This beautiful day begins at dawn: the monks leave their temple and cross the city to collect offerings from villagers. A colorful and silent spectacle not to be missed! Then, with your private local guide, enjoy an à la carte visit to the main religious buildings: Wat Aham and Wat Visoun, the oldest in the city; the watermelon-shaped Tat Mak Mo; the charismatic Wat Xieng Thong; Wat Phraphoutthabat, the monastery of the Buddha’s Footprint… the city has more than thirty of them!
In the late morning, head to the Ock Pop Tok Center, a social enterprise dedicated to preserving traditional Lao crafts. Discover the workshops and the silkworm farm. Lunch on-site before crossing the Mekong to the Pha Tad Ke Botanical Gardens. A specialist guide will show you the different gardens and the secrets of each plant. Return to your hotel.
Stopover: Luang Prabang
Breakfast, Lunch
Drive northeast toward a Tai Lue village, an ethnic group originally from the southern Yunnan province in China. Tai Lue women are known for the beauty of their cotton fabrics woven using the “cross-stitch” technique, for their silks, and for their expertise in natural dyeing. The Luang Prabang Ethnology Museum has worked with this village and community for over 10 years.
Lunch in the village, return to Luang Prabang at the end of the day.
Stopover: Sayaboury
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Early morning departure for a village located 2 hours south of Luang Prabang. Upon arrival at the Nam Tien lake pier, you will board a boat for the Elephant Conservation Center where you will spend two nights. Check-in to your private bungalow.
Forest walk accompanied by your guide. After a picnic lunch, you will visit the nursery and then the hospital, where the team will present the care provided to elephants injured at work.
After the elephants’ bath—they are very good swimmers—it is possible to interact with them. A surprising contact: the skin, the gaze, the dexterity of their trunks… A forest walk marks the end of this beautiful day in the company of Asian elephants.
Dinner and overnight at the Camp.
Stopover: Sayaboury
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Breakfast followed by a hike to the elephant meeting area, a jungle of over 2 hectares dedicated to contact between the pachyderms. A spectacle to observe from a platform with a panoramic view. Return to the camp for lunch.
The afternoon will be dedicated to a presentation of the veterinarians’ work and their medical interventions. Free time at the end of the day: swimming, canoeing, or visiting a small elephant museum.
Dinner and overnight at the Camp.
Stopover: Sayaboury, Luang Prabang
Breakfast, Lunch
One of the final stages of this experience alongside the elephants consists of accompanying them to the “reinforcement” area, an enclosure located in the forest where food traps are placed everywhere. It’s your turn to play by hiding the food as difficultly as possible to trick your new friends. Finding bananas and sugar cane is a fun game for them, and impressive for you!
Lunch at the camp. Return to Luang Prabang for the late afternoon.
Stopover: Pakse
Breakfast
Breakfast, transfer to the airport, and flight to Pakse.
Lunch (on your own) in a local restaurant in this small provincial town, the last major settlement before the border with Cambodia. Discovery of the old colonial quarter and Mount Salao, where a 35m giant Buddha stretches out. A magnificent place to watch the sun set over the plain.
Stopover: Bolaven Plateau
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
This morning, depart for the Bolaven Plateau. Many families have settled on these fertile lands planted with coffee, introduced during the French colonial era starting in 1920. The plateau offers wild nature with very picturesque falls, among the most impressive in the country. Picnic lunch.
Tea or coffee? Among your discoveries of the day, a tea plantation to taste this popular beverage before having coffee in the village of Ban Phou Oy at Mr. Jhai’s, whose cooperative is a renowned fair trade business.
This evening, a Baci ceremony prepared by the villagers to reunite your 32 souls before dining and sleeping with a host family in the village. Dinner and overnight stay in a homestay.
Stop: Champassak
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Early wake-up. Breakfast followed by a drive to the village of Ban Nong Luang, the starting point for a loop walk in the heart of karst formations in the middle of the forest. Lunch near waterfalls. Drive to Pakse then Champassak and check-in at your hotel. Dinner on your own and overnight at your hotel.
Stopover: Don Daeng Island, Champassak
Breakfast
Morning visit to Champassak, a former royal city with an architectural heritage of colonial houses and traditional Lao houses, before reaching the magnificent Vat Phou temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This temple reveals a part of the history of the Chenla kingdom. Smaller but older than the city of Angkor in Cambodia, it exudes a magical atmosphere…
Lunch on your own in the early afternoon and return to Champassak. Opportunity to visit Don Daeng Island by bicycle on dirt paths through rice fields, small villages with wooden houses, and their rice granaries. A car-free island, frozen in time. Dinner on your own and overnight at your hotel.
Stopover: Pakse
Breakfast
Free time. Transfer to Pakse airport.
Our selection of Hotels
Included
Included- Accommodation in a double room
- For each participant not sharing a room, add the single supplement
- All meals mentioned (breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner)
- All transfers mentioned, in private cars or air-conditioned minibuses
- All excursions mentioned in the program
- All entrance fees to sites
- The service of local guides for the different stages, English-speaking guides available on request
- The guide: our quotation includes the salaries and travel expenses of a guide residing in Luang Prabang. If Luang Prabang guides are not available, we bring guides from Vientiane. This incurs an additional cost which will be communicated to you if applicable.
Excluded
- Domestic and international flights
- Drinks during meals and personal expenses
- Services not mentioned above
- Meals not mentioned above
- Bank or exchange fees related to the payment of the trip
- Laotian visa fees (30 to 50 USD/person plus one passport photo). As a precaution, plan for 50 USD/person plus two passport photos)
- Your passport must be valid for 6 months after the exit date from the country
- Cancellation / assistance / repatriation and luggage insurance
- Tips
Personalized support
Each client receives personalized support:
- Your dedicated Asia Safari advisor informs you and assists you in your choices, targets your expectations before designing your trip
- From your arrival until your departure day, you benefit from Asia Safari assistance throughout the trip
- We are regularly in the field to ensure the reliability of our partners
- We invest in research and development to integrate novelty and originality into our offer
- We only employ experienced guides
Important
- The services, flights, and hotels offered are subject to availability at the time of booking
- Domestic or international flight schedules may be delayed or changed without prior notice
- Our prices are guaranteed by a deposit of 30% of the total amount of your trip
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Why choose Asia Safari for your trip to Laos?
With Asia Safari, you plan your tailor-made trip directly with a local English-speaking team. Our agency has been based in Vientiane since 2002. Its founder, Jean-Paul Duvergé, has worked in Laos since 2000. Our guides are Lao, our accommodations are hand-picked, and each itinerary is tailor-made. The result: a vibrant, fair trip, without unnecessary frills.
- Local English-speaking agency: we speak your language and know the country from the inside
- Zero intermediaries: you deal directly with the local team
- Truly tailor-made: no fixed catalog — each trip is unique
- Since 2002, Asia Safari has been creating tailor-made journeys in Laos, drawing on the experience its founder has gained in the country since 2000.
How does our tailor-made service work?
1. You send us your request (dates, budget, desires, profile)
2. We send you an initial response within 24 working hours, followed by a detailed proposal within 48 working hours of receiving the necessary information: your itinerary, accommodation and a quote specifying the services included.
3. We refine the proposal together, adjusting the itinerary, accommodation and activities to suit your expectations and budget.
4. We coordinate the services included in your itinerary on the ground: guides, transport, accommodation and activities.
When to visit Laos?
From November to February, the weather is generally drier and temperatures are milder. March and April are often hotter. The rainy season, from May to October, brings lush green landscapes; we adapt the itinerary and transport to local conditions.
Laos, the heart of your Indochina tour
Laos is often the surprise of a trip: uncrowded, authentic, with a quiet beauty. Asia Safari makes Laos much more than a stopover — we make it the central experience of your stay, before or after Vietnam, Cambodia, or Thailand.
Our travel ideas for Laos and neighbouring countries
Laos + Cambodia: from the temples of Luang Prabang to Angkor, shape a journey combining cultural heritage and Mekong scenery. A visit to Tonlé Sap can complement the itinerary, depending on your interests and the time available.
Laos + Vietnam: Two contrasting countries — the calm of Laos and the energy of Vietnam. From Hanoi to Vientiane or vice versa.
Northern Laos + Yunnan: from the landscapes of Yunnan to the mountains of northern Laos, the Laos–China railway can connect some of the stops on your journey. We plan the route with you, in either direction.
Grand Indochina Tour (40 days): Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand — a memorable trip for life.
Tips for preparing your multi-country tour
Visas: each country has its own rules — Asia Safari guides you through all procedures.
Duration: we adapt the number of stops to the time you have available. For a trip combining two countries, we consider the regions you want to explore, travel between destinations and your preferred pace.
Seasons: seasons vary by country — we help you choose the best window.
Budget: the cost of a multi-country trip depends on its length, the season, the number of travellers, accommodation and transport between destinations. We prepare a personalised quote specifying the services included and any expenses to budget for separately.
Our Story
Jean-Paul Duvergé has worked in Laos since 2000. In 2002, he founded Asia Safari in Vientiane to design tailor-made trips in Laos and Indochina. Today, the agency’s French-Lao team plans each itinerary with its travellers and coordinates arrangements on the ground with its local guides and partners.
What sets us apart
A team on the ground: based in Vientiane, we plan your trip using our knowledge of Laos and information from our local partners. We take the seasons, travel conditions and accommodation into account when designing your itinerary.
We speak your language: our team supports you in English, from planning your trip to assistance during your stay. English-speaking guided visits are arranged according to your itinerary.
Direct contact with our team: you speak with the people who plan your trip and coordinate its organisation on the ground. Your quote specifies the price of your trip and the services included.
Tailor-made journeys: our suggested itineraries are starting points. We adapt the destinations, pace, accommodation and activities to your dates, wishes and budget.
Our commitment
We give preference to local accommodation providers and partners. When visiting villages, we take care to respect residents and their customs. Our approach also aims to help preserve the cultural and natural sites that make Laos special.
Laos in figures
Laos covers 236,800 km² and had a population of around 7.9 million in 2025. Its capital is Vientiane, its official language is Lao and its currency is the Lao kip (LAK). Theravada Buddhism is the main religion. The country is in the UTC+7 time zone.
Laos must-sees
Luang Prabang: Former royal capital, a UNESCO World Heritage site, its golden temples, French colonial houses, and gentle way of life make it an undeniable favorite.
Vientiane: The human-sized capital — That Luang, Patuxai, and the banks of the Mekong are worth a visit.
Vang Vieng: Surrounded by limestone karsts, ideal for kayaking, caving, and hiking.
Southern Laos and 4000 Islands: Champassak, the Vat Phou temples (UNESCO), the Bolaven Plateau, and the Mekong islands.
Lao culture
Theravada Buddhism has an important place in Laos, alongside a variety of cultural traditions. In Luang Prabang, the monks’ morning alms round is a religious ritual to observe with discretion and respect. Boun Pi Mai, Lao New Year in April, and Boun Ok Phansa, which marks the end of the Buddhist rains retreat, are among the events that shape the year.
Nature and biodiversity
The forests and protected areas of Laos are home to a variety of wildlife, including Asian elephants, gibbons and sun bears. Rivers, mountains and plateaus offer many opportunities to explore nature.
