☰Day Trips

Several worthwhile destinations lie within a half-day or full-day journey of Vientiane, ranging from ancient ruins and artificial lakes to dramatic limestone landscapes. The easiest big-landscape outing is the Nam Ngum Reservoir, an island-dotted lake about 90 kilometres north of the capital where you can take a boat among the drowned forest and lunch on fresh fish. Further south, the karst country of the Hinboun Stone Forest — best known for the river cave at Kong Lor — makes a memorable, if long, expedition. Closer to home, the roadside Buddha ruins of Vang Xang make an easy stop on the way toward Vang Vieng.