Luang Prabang and Angkor in 9 Days: Laos and Cambodia Private Tour

Your guide and driver meet you at Luang Prabang airport and take you to your hotel. Luang Prabang sits on a peninsula where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong, and its old town is small enough to explore on foot. Nothing is planned today, so settle in and take a first stroll along the riverbank as the evening light fades and the temple drums sound for evening prayers.Overnight: Luang Prabang

Your guide leads a walk through the lesser-known lanes, pointing out the Lao stilt houses, French-era homes, colonial villas and Chinese shophouses that UNESCO protects. Visit Wat Sene and Wat Xieng Thong, whose roofs sweep almost to the ground, and stop at Heuan Chan, a restored 19th-century noble house, for local coffee or tea. Continue to the Royal Palace Museum and Wat Mai, climb Mount Phousi for sunset if you wish, and end at the night market.Overnight: Luang Prabang · Meals: B

Board a boat upstream on the Mekong, with green hills and riverside villages sliding past. Stop at Ban Xang Hai, known for its rice wine, then reach the Pak Ou Caves, two caverns in the cliffs filled with thousands of gold-lacquered Buddha images. In the afternoon the boat takes you to Ban Chan, a pottery village where jars are shaped by hand and fired in kilns dug into the earth. Try the wheel if you like (extra fee), then cruise back at sunset.Overnight: Luang Prabang · Meals: B

Rise before dawn to watch the alms round quietly as monks collect sticky rice, then browse the morning market. Head into the countryside to a community rice farm, where you can try farm tasks or watch from a traditional rice house, and see bamboo weaving and sugar-cane pressing. In the afternoon, swim in the turquoise pools of Kuang Si Falls and visit the Bear Rescue Centre, with a stop at the Ock Pop Tok weaving center on the way back.Overnight: Luang Prabang · Meals: B

Enjoy a last breakfast by the Mekong before your transfer to the airport and the flight to Siem Reap, direct or via Vientiane or Bangkok depending on the day. Your Cambodian guide meets you on arrival. Visit the Artisans d'Angkor workshops, where young Cambodians train in silk weaving, stone and wood carving, then stroll through the Old Market. In the evening, enjoy dinner with a performance of Apsara dance, the classical art you will soon see carved on temple walls.Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, D

Rise early to watch dawn break over Angkor Wat, then return for breakfast. Explore Angkor Wat itself, built in the early 12th century, with its long galleries of carved reliefs. Enter Angkor Thom through the South Gate to see the smiling stone faces of the Bayon, the royal terraces and Preah Khan. After lunch, wander through Ta Prohm, where fig and silk-cotton trees grow straight through the towers, and end the day with sunset from Pre Rup.Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, L

Drive out to Phnom Bok, a hilltop temple from the late 9th century, and climb to the summit for a wide view over the plain. Stop at a village school and enjoy a picnic lunch in the countryside. Continue north to Koh Ker, briefly the capital of the Khmer empire in the 10th century, where a seven-tiered pyramid and quiet shrines stand among the trees. Dinner is a home-style meal cooked by a local family or at your hotel.Overnight: Koh Ker · Meals: B, L, D

Leave Koh Ker for Beng Mealea, an early 12th-century temple still half claimed by the forest, where wooden walkways lead through collapsed galleries and mossy courtyards. After lunch, visit the monastery of Pouk on the way back to Siem Reap. Later your guide takes you for a one-hour foot or body massage, a welcome treat after the temples, followed by dinner at a local restaurant.Overnight: Siem Reap · Meals: B, L, D

Spend your last morning on Tonle Sap Lake. A boat takes you through a floating village where houses, schools and shops rise and fall with the water, and your guide explains how families fish, trade and move their homes with the seasons. Return to Siem Reap and transfer to the airport for your flight home.Meals: B