The Laos-China Railway has transformed access to Luang Namtha. A station at Nateuy, about 35 kilometres south of town (reachable by tuk-tuk or bus), puts Luang Namtha about 1.5 hours from Luang Prabang and 4 hours from Vientiane by train. This makes it easily combined with a Luang Prabang visit without the full-day bus journey that was previously required.
By road, the bus from Luang Prabang takes 7–8 hours via Udomxai; from Houeixay on the Mekong (opposite Chiang Khong in Thailand) takes 3–4 hours. Louang Namtha Airport (LXG) has sporadic Lao Airlines connections to Vientiane. The most popular entry from Thailand is via the Houeixay/Chiang Khong border crossing, then bus up to Luang Namtha.