🏨 Half Day Luang Prabang city tour Activity

Half Day Luang Prabang city tour

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From $55.00

6 reviews (4.50)

Price varies by group size

Lowest Price Guarantee

Pricing Info: Per Person

Duration: 4 hours

Departs: Laos, Laos

Ticket Type: Mobile or paper ticket accepted

Free cancellation

Up to 24 hours in advance.

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Overview

Walking with a local guide and visit Luang Prabang Unesco World Heritage sites. You will hear many unique local stories about Luang Prabang, from the history of the temples and the city to the Buddhist narratives and legends painted all over the temple walls. The Luang Prabang community shares such stories and collective memories, and the locals are still firmly connected through sharing them. Join in this small group tour, you will gain insight into Luang Prabang’s culture, which is difficult to know just by looking around on your own.

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle

All Fees and Taxes

English speaking licensed local tour guide

Foods for alms giving ceremony

What's Not Included

All entrance fees for museum, temples

Breakfast

Lunch

Traveler Information

INFANT: Age: 0 - 3
ADULT: Age: 4 - 99

Additional Info

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Service animals allowed

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

What To Expect

Alms Giving Ceremony

In Buddhism, alms or almsgiving is the respect given by a lay Buddhist to a Buddhist monk, nun, spiritually-developed person or other sentient being. It is not charity as presumed by Western interpreters. It is important to know the ceremony is also a spiritual practice to accumulate good karma for those who give the alms. It is closer to a symbolic connection to the spiritual realm and to show humbleness and respect in the presence of the secular society. The act of almsgiving connects the human to the monk and what he represents.

The morning alms giving is a living Buddhist tradition for the people of Luang Prabang which, because of its beauty, has become a major tourist attraction. However, when tourists are unaware of its customs their inappropriate behaviors can be disruptive.

-Do not stand too close to the monks when taking photographs
-Dress appropriately: shoulders, chests and legs should be covered.
-Do not make physical contact with the monks.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Morning Market

Following alms giving, we visit a local morning market. Luang Prabang morning market lining a couple of quiet streets near the Royal Palace, starts early and is over by mid-morning. It sets up along a couple of side-streets next to one of the city’s many Wats. A butcher and some of the more touristy stalls have actual tables for their wares. But most of the vendors, selling anything from rice, to fresh vegetables, to steamed fish, frogs, and anything else that might be the day’s catch, just set up on the ground.

We go back to your accommodation and have a free time for breakfast until 8:30 am.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Riverview Park

The second part of this tour begins at riverview park on the peninsula tip. You will have a brief introduction to Luang Prabang, standing where the Nam Khan River meets the Mekong River. From there, walk to the famous Wat Xieng Thong temple.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Wat Xiengthong

Wat Xiengthong was considered the ceremonial gateway to the city and was the arrival and departure point for foreign dignitaries for centuries. We will walk up the stairs to the main gate and enter the temple like ancient dignitaries.

Wat Xieng Thong, once known as “The Temple of the Golden City”, holds great cultural, historic and architectural importance. It is serenely situated near the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, with a grand staircase leading up from the Mekong. (Entrance fee 20,000 kip)

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Next, we will go temple hopping in the neighborhood. At Wat Sene, where there is a school for novice monks, you may meet again with novice monks you met on the morning alms. The temple was built in 1718 by King Kitsarath with 100,000 stones from the Mekong river. It literally means "Temple of 100,000 treasures"

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Heuan Chan Heritage Luang Prabang

We will drive to Heuan Chan Heritage. There we will see a well preserved traditional Lao house and take a short break in their gardens. Heuan Chan Heritage is a traditional wooden house dated back to 19th century. In Lao language, Heuan means house and the owner of this house was Mrs. Chan – that is how the name derived from. Situated in the heart of Luang Prabang peninsula, Heun Chan is a very rare surviving example of a pre-colonial Lao style aristocratic mansion. It shelter a museum and its surroundings promotes the Luang Prabang Way of Life. (Admission Fee: 1.85US$/person)

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Royal Palace Museum

Finally, we will visit the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace, which is today the national museum and built by French colonialists between 1904-09, displays a lovely collection of the artefacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture. (Entrance fee 30,000 kip)

The tour will end in the city center or you will be transferred to your hotel.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

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Half Day Luang Prabang city tour Activity - Laos Travel Guide

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