Thakhek to Vientiane

By bus the journey from Thakhek to Vientiane is scheduled to take from 6 to 8 hours depending upon which service you take.

Bus Times from Thakhek to Vientiane

There are currently 15 bus services a day from Thakhek to Vientiane available to book online.

Buy Tickets from Thakhek to Vientiane

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Thakhek to Vientiane.

Thakhek Bus Stop

Bus services from Thakhek to Vientiane depart from Thakhek Bus Terminal.

Vientiane Bus Stop

Bus services from Thakhek to Vientiane terminate at Vientiane Southern Bus Terminal.

About Travel to Vientiane

Vientiane is by far the largest city in Laos with over 200,000 people living in the city centre and around 700,000 in the wider municipal area. Visitors to the city will have a different type of experience than they would in smaller Laos cities and towns because of the range of amenities in the city and the better transport links. Vientiane, however, is smaller than many other Asian capitals such as Bangkok or Hanoi and it doesn’t feel like an ‘international city’ in the same way.

Arrival in Vientiane

Bus services from Thakhek, and many other places in Southern Laos, arrive in Vientiane at a bus station some distance away from the city centre. Local bus services from the bus station to the centre of Vientiane are available. The service to take is Bus #29, which terminates at Vientiane Central Bus Station.

Alternatively, travellers who don’t want to wait for a local bus, or want to travel direct to their accommodation, should take a local tuk-tuk service. The journey from the Southern Bus Terminal to the centre of the city is 12 to 13 km and takes around 30 minutes. Aim to negotiate a price in the range of 80,000 to 120,000 Laos Kip although you will initially be asked to pay more. Also, don’t be surprised if the tuk-tuk driver picks up other customers on route and then takes a detour to drop them off at their destination. This frequently happens in Laos.

Quai Fa Ngum Road

The majority of foreign visitors to Vientiane all stay in the same small part of the city, which is on or around the Quai Fa Ngum Road which is a riverside road close to the southern end of the Avenue Lane Xang. This area bears some similarities to the Khao San Road in Bangkok or Pham Ngu Lao in Ho Chi Minh City in terms of the concentration of bars, restaurants and hotels catering primarily to foreign visitors.

For first time visitors to Vientiane we recommend that you stay in this area. Not every part of the city has restaurants that serve a range of international cuisine or indeed have restaurants that stay open after sunset. The Quai Fa Ngum Road also has the advantage of being located fairly close to the city centre local bus station and many of the main tourist attractions in the city. Spending time in the evening sat on the banks of the Mekong River is also one of the more pleasurable aspects of spending time in Vientiane.

Places to Visit in Vientiane

There are lots of places of interest to visit in Vientiane. For more information follow the links underlined in red below.

Temples:

• Pha That Luang
• Wat Si Sa Ket
• Wat That Luang Neua
• Chua Bang Long
• Fude Miao Temple
• Meun Na Temple
• Wat Chanthaboury
• Wat Mixai
• Wat Ong Teu

Public Spaces, Buildings, and Monuments:

• Avenue Lane Xang
• Presidential Palace
• Chao Anouvong Statue
• Lao National Cultural Hall
• Patuxai Monument
• That Dam

Markets:

• Vientiane Night Market

Out of Town Attractions:

• Buddha Park
• Nam Ngum Reservoir

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