Luang Prabang

The 1560 royal temple, with its sweeping roof and tree-of-life mosaic. Go early. Cover shoulders and knees and take shoes off inside.

The last king's home, now the national museum. Around 60,000 kip. Long trousers required, no photography inside, bags into lockers.

Turquoise limestone pools 30km south, open daily to about 5.30pm. Shared minivans run all morning. Swim only in the marked pools.

Small, excellent museum on the ethnic groups of Laos, near Dara Market, with a fair-trade craft shop attached. Allow about an hour.

Steep steps to a hilltop stupa above the Mekong, 20,000 kip. It gets very crowded; the Nam Khan side is the quieter way up.

Direct from Bangkok, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Singapore and Vientiane. The airport is about 4km out, roughly 10 minutes by tuk-tuk.

Fast trains cover Vientiane to Luang Prabang in about 2 hours. The station is 12km out; allow 25 minutes and a shared van into town.

Two days down the Mekong via Pakbeng from the Thai border. Scenic but long. Check the boat carries life jackets before you board.

November to February: dry, clear, warm days and cool nights. Peak crowds and peak prices.

June to September rains, or the March-April crop-burning haze. Cheap, but poor skies.

Christmas, New Year and Boun Pi Mai in mid-April. Book beds and trains weeks ahead.

Watch the tak bat alms procession from the far kerb: silent, still, shoulders covered, no flash. If unsure, skip it entirely.

Coffee and a baguette, then Wat Xieng Thong and the Royal Palace Museum before the peninsula heat builds.

Lao food at Tamarind by the Nam Khan: jeow dips, mok pa and buffalo laap. Closed on Sundays.

Shared van to Kuang Si Falls for a swim, then the Free the Bears moon bear enclosures on the way back out.

Mount Phousi for sunset, then the Sisavangvong night market and the food stall alley behind it.

Two river caves packed with thousands of Buddha figures, two hours upstream by longboat. Usually paired with a whisky-village stop.

Four hours north by minivan into limestone country on the Nam Ou. Better as a stay than a day trip.