There are now 2 ways to travel by public transport from Vientiane to Vang Vieng: by bus or by train. By public bus or minivan it takes 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes to travel 152 km from Vientiane to Vang Vieng, sometimes longer if the bus or minivan stops frequently on route picking up or dropping off customers which happens often in Laos.
Bus Times from Vientiane to Vang Vieng
There are currently 5 services a day from Vientiane to Vang Vieng available to book online.
Vientiane | Vang Vieng | Ticket | Company |
07:00 | 08:30 | $9 USD | Naluang |
08:30 | 10:00 | $9 USD | Naluang |
08:30 | 11:00 | $9 USD | Family Service |
09:00 | 11:30 | $10 USD | Soutchai Travel |
13:00 | 15:30 | $10 USD | Soutchai Travel |
Buy Tickets from Vientiane to Vang Vieng
Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Vientiane to Vang Vieng.
Vientiane Bus Station
Naluang services from Vientiane to Vang Vieng depart from Vientiane’s Northern Bus Terminal.
Vang Vieng Bus Station
Naluang services from Vientiane to Vang Vieng terminate at Vang Vieng North Bus Station.
Travel from Vang Vieng
From Vang Vieng you can travel direct to Luang Prabang, Phonsavan and back to Vientiane. For all other destinations you need to change bus or minivan in other towns.
Travel by Bus from Vang Vieng
By bus or minivan the journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang takes 6 to 8 hours, and the journey from Vang Vieng to Phonsavan takes a painfully slow 8 hours as the bus negotiates some fairly bad roads. Phonsavan is the nearest town with accommodation to the famous Plain of Jars which is one of the great mysterious wonders of South East Asia and worth the long journey to visit.

Travel to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam
For overland travel to Chiang Mai and Hanoi you should first travel to Luang Prabang and take another bus from there. The journey by bus from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai takes 20 hours and Naga Travel has a service which departs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 18:00.
The journey by bus from Luang Prabang to Hanoi in Vietnam takes 24 hours. The Naluang Bus Company has a daily service from Luang Prabang to Hanoi departing at 18:00. For travel to Don Det (4,000 islands) and to Nong Khai in Thailand you need to travel to Vientiane.
There are plenty of ways to travel from Vientiane to Nong Khai in Thailand. You can take a bus, minivan or taxi to the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge and cross the border that way, or you can go to Thanaleng train station in the village of Dongphosy and take a train direct to Nong Khai Train Station for services to Bangkok.