Laos Travel Budget: How Much Does It Cost To Travel Laos For 14 Days?

This post was updated in June 2020.

Laos is a beautiful country in Southeast Asia, there are lots of mountains, dense green jungles, pretty waterfalls, and amazing temples. It’s a country with a sad history, a history I knew too little about before visiting the COPE center in Vientiane.

Laos is also a pretty cheap country to travel, our Laos travel budget was only 511.000LAK / €57 / $64 on an average day! In this post can find all the nitty-gritty details of our Laos budget.

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Laos travel budget: how much does it cost to travel Laos

Laos budget travel: important facts and figures

• I traveled around Laos with my husband, all expenses are for the two of us together.
• We spent 14 days in Laos in total. We entered Laos via the Thai/Lao border near Huay Xai and exited by train via the Thai/Lao Friendship Bridge near Vientiane.
• During our Laos trip, we visited Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and Vientiane.
• I quote prices in the Laotian Kip (LAK) as well as € and $. When we were in Laos (April 2015), €1 was approximately 9000LAK and $1 around 8000LAK. Here you can find the current exchange rates.
• In total we spent 7.154.000LAK / €798 / $896 in the 2 weeks we spent in the country. This comes down to an average travel budget of 511.000LAK / €57 / $64 per day.
• This budget includes all our expenses in Laos, plus transportation costs to Bangkok (we took the night train).

Laos daily budget divided into four categories

1. Accommodation: 18% of our daily travel budget
2. Transportation: 18% of our daily travel budget
3. Food&Drinks: 42% of our daily travel budget
4. Paid activities: 14% of our daily travel budget

These categories add up to 92%, the other 8% is attributed to the $35 1-month single entry visa that we bought to enter Laos ($70 for two people, which is around $5 / €4,50 / 41.500LAK a day).

1. How much to spend on budget accommodation in Laos

We stayed at six different hotels during our 2 week trip around Laos. On an average travel day, we paid 91.500LAK / €10 / $11,50 for accommodation. This adds up to 1.281.000 / €140 / $161 spent on accommodations in total.

In the table below you can find all the hotels I stayed at during our trip to Laos (only the ones I recommend). You can find more details about our accommodation in my 2 week Laos itinerary.

*Note: Sengphet Guesthouse in Luang Prabang has unfortunately closed down, however, a great alternative is Meunna Boutique Hotel.

2. How much does transportation cost in Laos

Getting around in Laos is not expensive, our transportation costs were 90.000LAK / €10 / $11 on average per day. The total costs for buses, tuk-tuks, the slow boat, etc. were 1.260.000LAK / €138 / $154 in 14 days.

3. Cost of food and drinks in Laos

The food in Laos was good, though not my favorite in Southeast Asia. But maybe I didn’t eat the right dishes or didn’t find the right spots. Anyway, it wasn’t expensive! That is, if you don’t eat too much Western Food, that always triples the price for dinner;-).

On an average day we spent 214.000LAK / €24 / $27 on food and drinks. Total costs for food and drinks were 2.996.000LAK / €336 / $378.

4. Cost of activities in Laos

My trip in Laos was all about cool outdoor activities such as mountain biking to the Kuang Si Falls, cycling around Vientiane and kayaking and hiking in Vang Vieng.

Our average costs for activities was 74.000LAK / €8,50 / $9,50 per day. Total costs for all our activities in Laos were 1.036.000LAK / €119 / $133.

Laos on a budget: in conclusion

That’s everything about our budget for Laos, a beautiful country with laid back people and lots of things to do! Also, I love how Laos is a bit more off the beaten track than other countries in Southeast Asia.

There are other travelers but not heaps of them as is the case in some areas in Thailand. Altogether, I highly recommend visiting Laos!

You can download the budget infographic below.

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