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 22 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, floating gardens, and—depending on the season—Irrawaddy dolphins in 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, kingfishers, and Irrawaddy dolphins. 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
The adventure starts here!
Stopover: Luang Prabang
Arrival at Luang Prabang airport. Transfer and check-in at your hotel.
Stage: Luang Prabang
Breakfast
This beautiful day begins at the first light of dawn: the monks leave their temples and cross the city to collect offerings from the villagers. A colorful and silent spectacle not to be missed! Then, with your private English-speaking guide, enjoy a customized visit of 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 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.
Stage: 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.
Stage: 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
- Accommodation in a room for 2 people
- For each participant not sharing a room, add the individual 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 French-speaking guides for the different stages
- 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 payment for the trip
- Laotian visa fees (30 USD/person plus one passport photo). As a precaution, plan for 35 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 follow-up
Each client receives personalized follow-up:
- Your French-speaking Asia Safari advisor informs 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 the payment of a 30% deposit of the total amount of your trip
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Why choose Asia Safari for your trip to Laos?
Asia Safari is not a generalist tour operator based in France. We have been on site, in Vientiane, for over 25 years. 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 French-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
- 25+ years of experience: founded in 2002, Asia Safari assists hundreds of French-speaking travelers every year
How does our tailor-made service work?
1. You send us your request (dates, budget, desires, profile)
2. We build a proposal within 48 hours — day-by-day itinerary, accommodations, all-inclusive price
3. You refine it with us until the trip is perfect
4. We manage everything on site: guides, transport, hotels, activities
When to visit Laos?
The best period is October to April — dry season, pleasant temperatures. The rainy season (May to September) is also possible: lush landscapes and fewer tourists, but some roads can be difficult. Asia Safari advises you according to the region and type of trip.
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 most requested Indochina combinations
Laos + Cambodia: A classic — temples of Luang Prabang and Angkor Wat, Mekong and Tonlé Sap. 15 days minimum recommended.
Laos + Vietnam: Two contrasting countries — the calm of Laos and the energy of Vietnam. From Hanoi to Vientiane or vice versa.
Northern Laos + Yunnan: For travelers seeking originality — travel from Yunnan to Laos via the Laos-China railway (inaugurated 2021).
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.
Ideal duration: allow a minimum of 12 to 15 days for a 2-country combination.
Seasons: seasons vary by country — we help you choose the best window.
Budget: prices vary greatly by country. Laos is cheaper than Vietnam or Thailand.
Our Story
Jean-Paul Duvergé arrived in Laos at the turn of the 2000s, fell in love with the country, and decided to stay. In 2002, he founded Asia Safari with a simple idea: to offer French-speaking travelers direct access to authentic Lao life, without the filter of large Parisian agencies. Since then, the agency has assisted thousands of travelers, built a network of trusted guides and partners, and refined its philosophy: rigorous tailor-made travel, serving authenticity.
What sets us apart
We are on site: Our team works from Vientiane. We know the roads, seasons, accommodations, guides — and what changed last week. No outdated brochures.
We speak your language: Asia Safari is a 100% French-speaking agency. All our communications, proposals, and guides speak French.
Zero intermediaries: You work directly with us. No central purchasing, no Parisian subcontractors. Fairer prices and higher service quality.
Tailor-made as our only model: We do not have standardized tours. Each trip is designed from scratch, according to your dates, budget, desires, and traveler profile.
Our commitment
Asia Safari actively supports responsible tourism in Laos: prioritizing local accommodations, tours that benefit village communities, respect for cultural and natural sites.
Laos in figures
Area: 236,800 km² | Population: approximately 7.5 million inhabitants | Capital: Vientiane | Official language: Lao | Religion: Theravada Buddhism (65% of the population) | Currency: Lao Kip (LAK) | Time zone: UTC+7
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 permeates all of Lao life. The alms giving (offerings to monks at dawn) in Luang Prabang is a daily ritual of great beauty. Lao festivals — Boun Pi Mai (Lao New Year in April), Boun Ok Phansa (Festival of Lights) — are exceptional times to travel.
Nature and biodiversity
Laos is 70% covered by forests. Its protected areas are home to rare species: Asian elephants, gibbons, sun bears. The rivers and plateaus offer natural settings of rare purity in Asia.
