Hanoi Travel Forum

This may have been asked and answered several times, but I still haven't found a clearer direction/instruction on how to cross overland from Hanoi to Luang Prabang. And some entries are quite old.

I am a female traveling alone in October. From Bangkok to Siam Reap to PP to Saigon to Hoi An to Hanoi to Luang Prabang to Vientiane to Chiang Mai and back to Bangkok. But with this route, the vaguest one was with the Hanoi and Luang Prabang route. Please, i need info on this one. Would really appreciate. Thanks! :)

Hello, I travelled Sam Nua (Hua Phan province) to Hanoi this year: from Sam Neua to Luang Prabang are two different roads. Your another option is Hanoi to LPB via Dien Bien Phu and then south to LPB - don't know how is the road and transport like there. What exactly you need to know?
You need to have Lao visa in advance if you want to cross at Na Meo/Nam Soy border.

From Hanoi to Luang , there are 2 ways:
- Fly up to Dien Bien Phu and then cross the border here, bus to Luang Prabang
- Bus from Hanoi - Vientian (24hour or more) then continue to Luang Prabang.
Tickets are available in all travel agents in old quarter in Hanoi.

You can swift the last part a bit as : Hanoi - Vientiane - Luang - ChiangMai - Bangkok.
From Chiang Mai to Bangkok you can travel by boat on Mekong river.
Hien

I agree with Hientonkin that it's a more 'practical' and faster route were you to go Hanoi to Vientiane to Luang Prabang, and then onward west to Chiang Mai since you'll waste time, money, and effort going Hanoi>LP>VTE>C.Mai.
If you want to enter Laos via the backdoor, the northern most entry point is the Tay Trang border crossing close to Dien Bien Phu and is a good route if you're already going to be up in the Sapa/BacHa/Lao Cai areas (visas upon arrival) but it'll take you 4 days of 'off the beaten' yet rewarding travel to get to LP via this route. Better if you've got a week since this is one of the best road/river journeys in SEA.
Otherwise, you could go to LP via the Nam Xoi/Nam Meo border but this would still be at a minimum 3 days to Luang Prabang.
Then there's the above mentioned 24 hour 'organized bus' to Vientiane via Vinh but have read many many reports of how bad some of the buses and the journey has been. Great if you're into 'roughing it'.
Otherwise, flying between Hanoi and Luang Prabang is the best option aboard Lao Airlines for a slightly longer than 1 hour flight. You really won't miss too much if you skip Vientiane and can substitute other wonderful destinations in Laos instead.

See my recent posting for details on the DBP - LP crossing. You can fly to DBP from Hanoi on a turboprop. there are two or three flights a day and I think I paid about $45USD one way. You may very well be the only westerner on the flight. There is only one bus leaving DBP for LAos a day, early in the morning. So you will have to spend a night in DBP. If you stay at the Dien Bien Phu - Hanoi hotel you will be within very easy walking distance to some of the famous battle sites. Additionally, Mr Dung, hotel manager, speaks very good English (a rarity in DBP LOL) and will direct you as to where/when to go buy your ticket in advance for the next days bus.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/a106a/#TL

Check out my DBP and Laos pages for further info.

The bus ride is very long and uncomfortable! I would strongly recommend flying from Hanoi to Luang Prabang. You will save three days of bus travel that are dangerous and very uncomfortable. As I recall, a one-way flight is about $100.