Vientiane

The Lao Textile Museum is a small but excellent museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich tradition of Lao hand-weaving. Founded by American textile expert Carol Cassidy, it displays antique textiles alongside demonstrations of traditional techniques.

The Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial Museum is dedicated to the founding father and first leader of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Located in his former residence compound on the outskirts of Vientiane, the museum documents his life and the Lao revolutionary struggle.

Wat That Khao is a peaceful white-washed temple compound immediately south of Pha That Luang, often overlooked by visitors focused on its famous golden neighbour. The temple features elegant Lao Buddhist architecture and several notable stupa monuments.

Pha That Luang is the most important national monument in Laos and the symbolic heart of Lao Buddhism and sovereignty. This gold-covered great stupa rises 45 metres above the surrounding plains and has been a pilgrimage site since legends place its origin in the 3rd century BCE, when an Ashokan missionary is said to have enshrined a breastbone of the Buddha here.

The Presidential Palace (Haw Kham) is an imposing Beaux-Arts building on the banks of the Mekong, originally built during the French colonial period as the residence of the colonial administrator. Although closed to the public, it is a striking landmark best admired from the riverside road.

Patuxai Park is the landscaped garden and public space that surrounds the Patuxai monument along Lane Xang Avenue, Vientiane's grandest boulevard. The park serves as a green oasis in the city centre and a gathering place for locals.

Patuxai — literally "Victory Gate" — is Vientiane's most recognizable landmark, a monumental arch completed in 1968 to honour Lao soldiers who died in pre-revolutionary wars. Often compared to Paris's Arc de Triomphe, it is distinguished by elaborate Lao mythological ornamentation and a rooftop observation deck.

Ban Anou Night Market is a local food-oriented evening market near the city centre, where Vientiane families gather for grilled meats, sticky rice, som tam (papaya salad), and other Lao staples at communal tables. Unlike the riverside Night Market, this one caters primarily to locals.

The Lao National Cultural Hall is Vientiane's main performing arts venue, hosting traditional Lao music and dance performances, cultural festivals, and occasional international events. The modern building sits along Kaysone Phomvihane Road.

Chao Anouvong Park is a well-maintained riverside park featuring a commanding bronze statue of King Anouvong (Chao Anouvong), the last king of the Lao Kingdom of Vientiane, who gazes defiantly across the Mekong toward the Siamese lands that ultimately led to his kingdom's destruction.

Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) is a surreal open-air sculpture garden located 25 km southeast of Vientiane along the Mekong River. Created in 1958 by the mystic shaman-priest Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, it contains over 200 concrete Hindu and Buddhist statues ranging from the serene to the bizarre.

Haw Phra Kaew (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) was originally built in 1565 as the royal chapel of King Setthathirath to house the famous Emerald Buddha — which was seized by the Siamese in 1779 and now resides in Bangkok's Grand Palace. Today the restored building serves as a museum of Lao religious art.

Wat Sok Pa Luang is a tranquil forest temple on the southern outskirts of central Vientiane, best known for its traditional Lao herbal sauna, meditation sessions, and peaceful woodland setting — a world away from the city's busier temples.

Wat Si Saket is the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane, having miraculously escaped the Siamese sack of 1828 that destroyed most of the city's religious architecture. Built in 1818 by King Anouvong, its Bangkok-influenced style may have spared it from destruction.

Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan is one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Laos, serving as the centre of Lao Buddhist scholarship and home to the Buddhist Institute. Its name means "Temple of the Heavy Buddha" — a reference to the large 16th-century bronze Buddha image in the sim.

Wat Si Muang is the most actively worshipped temple in Vientiane, considered the spiritual guardian of the city. Locals believe it houses the lak muang (city pillar) and the spirit of a pregnant woman named Nang Si who sacrificed herself during the temple's founding.

That Dam (Black Stupa) is a crumbling, weathered stupa sitting on a traffic roundabout in central Vientiane. According to popular legend, a seven-headed naga (serpent spirit) lives inside it and protected the city's residents during the Siamese invasion of 1828.

Phou Khao Khouay National Park is a 2,000 km² protected area roughly 80 km northeast of Vientiane, offering waterfalls, dense tropical forest, elephant habitat, and hiking trails largely untouched by mass tourism.

Talat Sao (Morning Market) is Vientiane's largest and most established covered market, operating since the 1960s. Despite its name, it trades all day and comprises both a characterful older hall selling textiles and handicrafts and a modern multi-storey mall.

The Lao National Museum, housed in a 1925 French colonial building that once served as the French governor's mansion, traces the history of Laos from prehistoric stone tools through the Lan Xang kingdom to the 1975 revolution and modern nationhood.