Vientiane has three bus stations: The Northern Bus Terminal and the Southern Bus Terminal and the Central bus Station.
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Northern Bus Station
The Northern Bus Station, 8 km northwest of the city centre, is the main departure place for Luang Prabang and all northern destinations, as well as buses to the southern areas ofs China. It’s sometimes referred to as the Bus station of Luang Prabang.
Large minivans and buses bound for Luang Prabang depart regularly throughout the day, at least one every couple of hours. Air-con buses are comfortable, and the VIP buses provide a bit extra space, a snack and bottled water. Many travellers prefer the overnight air-conditioned sleeper bus as a way of saving time and money on accommodation.
You can sleep comfortably in the air-condited VIP buses- source: internet
Tip: sleeper buses usually consist of a single bed shared between two people. If you’re travelling alone, that means getting cosy with a stranger. They do make a concerted effort to pair you up with someone of the same sex. Tall people will quickly discover that the beds are too short for them. Laos tours packages
Central Bus Station
The Central Bus Station (also known as Talat Sao or Khou Din station) is situated beside the morning market and is a bustling hub with bus services for the whole of the city, city coucils and a few further destinations in Laos and northern Thailand.
A fleet of green and white air-conditioned style buses has routes throughout the whole city, including:
Bus 14: The cheapest way to get to the Friendship Bridge and Buddha Park (6,000 kip). It departs frequently every 10 to 20 minutes, 05:35–17:30 daily.
Bus 29 goes to the Southern Bus Terminal (Dong Dok) every 10 to 20 minutes and costs 4,000 kip.
A few buses (3, 30, 49) pass the turn-off to the airport, though none actually go to it. Remember that buses in local are often written only with Lao letters and numbers in the front windscreen, but station staff can direct you to the right bus. Be careful with tuk tuk drivers who will say you’ve already missed your bus.
The typical green and white bus in Laos- source”: internet
Southern Bus Terminal
You can travel to all destinations in southern Laos and international services to Cambodia and Vietnam through the Southern Bus Terminal (Dong Dok). It’s situated 11 km north of the downtown core, straight up Kaysone Phomvihane Avenue from Patuxai monument. Tuk tuk drivers will ask for 50,000 kip to take you there. An alternative way is to take the green and white city bus 29 from the Central Bus Station for 4,000 kip. Buying your bus ticket from a travel agency will cost more but against, it includes a transfer to the station in total.
Air
Vientiane’s Wattay International Airport (airport code VTE) is 3.5km west of the city.
Move from the airport to the city is by pre-paid taxi at a fixed price after negotiating. Car is 7$US or 56,000 kip, minivan is 8$US or 64,000 kip.
In Wattay International Airport, there are some more national airline Lao Airlines, THAI, AirAsia, Vietnam Airlines and China Eastern except for several international carries.
Wattay International Airport in Vientiane- source: internet
Domestic destinations include Luang Prabang, Luang Nam Tha, Huay Xai, Xieng Khuang, Udomxai, Pakse and Savannakhet. Several flights a day depart to Luang Prabang. If you have any plans to explore remote areas of the country, a domestic flight can save a lot of aches and pains from road travel for you.
Though each domestic destination usually has at least one daily departure scheduled, flights are occasionally cancelled if there are not enough passengers. Online booking is available on Lao Airlines’ website but booking with a local travel agent can sometimes get you a cheaper rate as there are often specials not advertised on the website. For Vietnam Airlines, you should book in person at their sales office, especially if you ask for connecting flights. You can book in person at the office inside Lao Plaza Hotel (using cash only).
Train
Tracks were laid over the Mekong River in 2009 that makes it now possible to travel from Thailand into Laos by train – for three kilometres!
The shuttle train from Nong Khai, Thailand chugs across the Mekong river, and then take you to Thanaleng station where you can get a visa-on-arrival there. Thanaleng is located in the middle of nowhere, which means you are getting stuck with taking a tuk tuk the final 20 kilometres to Vientiane.
The shuttle train from Thanaleng, Laos runs across Nong Khai train station at 09:00am, and 17:00pm. However, you can go to Nong Khai station by your own way.
Having interesting experience through train’s travelling- source: internet
The 70 Express train to Bangkok departs at 19:10 and arrive at 06:00 the next morning (though it often gets in much later). A soft seat costs 450 baht, a hard seat costs 300 baht. Imaging the journey takes over 13 hours, a sleeper is definitely worth it and costs 600 baht for fan, 700 baht for air-con upper seat, 800 baht for air-con lower seat or 1,317 baht for air-conditioned first class.
If you book your ticket through an agency in Vientiane, it will cost 200 baht more, but includes transport from your hotel to the border, sometimes even all the way to Nong Khai train station.
It is very convenient for tourists to travel Vientiane, Laos now!
See more:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GOING TO CHAMPASAK, LAOS
THINGS YOU CAN ONLY EXPERIENCE IN LUANG PRABANG
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