Trip overview
This is the longest journey we run along the Mekong, and the only one that touches all four countries the river shapes most: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It starts in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, at the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the river’s edge, and follows the water south for two weeks to the point where it fans out into nine channels and reaches the sea. One correction worth making up front: this trip starts in Chiang Rai, not Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai sits on the Ping river, which belongs to a different watershed entirely, and does not touch the Mekong at any point, so it has no place in an itinerary built around this river.
The route moves in one direction, downstream, through the Golden Triangle, across into Laos on a slow boat with an overnight stop at Pakbeng, down through Luang Prabang and Vientiane to Champasak and the Four Thousand Islands, across into Cambodia to Kratie for the dolphins and Phnom Penh for the capital, and finally by river into Vietnam and on to Ho Chi Minh City. Fourteen days is what it actually takes to do this without turning any single stretch into a blur seen from a bus window.
Trip highlights
- Sop Ruak and the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the river
- Two days on the Mekong by slow boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, with a night in Pakbeng
- Three nights in Luang Prabang: the alms procession, Kuang Si waterfall and the Pak Ou caves
- Wat Phou at Champasak and the waterfalls of the Bolaven Plateau
- Irrawaddy river dolphins at Kampi near Kratie, best seen December to February
- A river crossing from Cambodia into Vietnam, arriving through the Mekong Delta
Your day-by-day itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Chiang Rai
Transfer to your hotel in Chiang Rai, the standard starting point for the Golden Triangle and the river crossing into Laos two days from now. Chiang Rai itself sits close to the Mekong’s edge rather than on the river directly, and the evening is free before the trip’s river sections begin properly tomorrow.
Day 2: The Golden Triangle, Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong, cross into Laos
A morning at Sop Ruak, the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the Mekong, followed by Chiang Saen, an old river port town with brick temple ruins from its trading days, and Wat Rong Khun and Wat Rong Suea Ten, Chiang Rai’s White and Blue temples, on the way out of town. In the afternoon, on to Chiang Khong and across the Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge into Huay Xai, where you overnight ahead of an early boat departure. If you have been in Thailand before this trip starts, note that the visa-exempt entry allows 30 days as of 15 September 2026, reduced from the previous 60, so check your dates before flying in.
Day 3: Slow boat, Huay Xai to Pakbeng (about 6 hours)
Boats generally leave Huay Xai between 9:00 and 11:30 in the morning, so there is no pre-dawn start. The run to Pakbeng takes roughly six hours along a stretch of the Mekong lined with steep, forested banks and very little else, a genuine break from roads and traffic. Pakbeng exists mainly as the overnight stop this route requires, a single main street of guesthouses and simple restaurants.
Day 4: Slow boat, Pakbeng to Luang Prabang (about 8 hours)
The longer of the two river days, around eight hours downriver to Luang Prabang. Depending on which boat class you have chosen, this can include a stop at the Pak Ou caves along the way; on the standard public service it is more common to visit the caves separately once you are settled in town. You arrive in Luang Prabang by early evening for a three-night stay.
Day 5: Luang Prabang, Kuang Si waterfall and the old town
A half-day out to Kuang Si waterfall, a series of turquoise pools set in forest outside town, with time to swim before the afternoon crowds build. Back in Luang Prabang, the Royal Palace Museum, a walk through the peninsula’s temples, and the climb up Mount Phousi for a view over the confluence of the Nam Khan and the Mekong.
Day 6: Dawn alms procession and the Pak Ou caves
An early start for the alms-giving procession through the old town at dawn, with your guide briefing you beforehand on how to take part respectfully or watch from a distance. Later, a boat trip upriver to the Pak Ou caves if you have not already stopped there on the slow boat. The evening is free for the night market.
Day 7: Luang Prabang to Vientiane by rail (about 2 hours)
The Laos–China railway covers the distance to Vientiane in around two hours. The afternoon in the capital takes in Pha That Luang, the gold stupa that is Laos’s national symbol, Wat Sisaket and its thousands of small Buddha niches, and Patuxai, the memorial arch at the city centre.
Day 8: Vientiane to Pakse, transfer to Champasak and Wat Phou
A short flight south to Pakse and on to Champasak, where the afternoon is given to Wat Phou, a Khmer temple complex predating Angkor, built up the slope of Phu Kao mountain with views back over the river plain below.
Day 9: Bolaven Plateau to Si Phan Don, the Four Thousand Islands
A morning on the Bolaven Plateau, Laos’s coffee country, stopping at waterfalls including Tad Fane, before continuing to Si Phan Don, where the Mekong spreads to more than 10 kilometres wide and splits into a maze of islands. You overnight on Don Det or Don Khon, reachable only by boat.
Day 10: Si Phan Don to Kratie, crossing into Cambodia
A morning at Khone Phapheng, the widest waterfall on the Mekong by volume, and a walk along the remains of the old French colonial railway built to move cargo around the rapids. It is worth stating plainly: the Irrawaddy dolphins that used to live in this stretch of river died out here in February 2022, and no dolphin trip is offered at Si Phan Don despite what some older material still claims. In the afternoon, an overland border crossing into Cambodia and on to Kratie, where the dolphins on this itinerary are actually found.
Day 11: Kratie, Irrawaddy dolphins at Kampi, to Phnom Penh
A morning boat out to the Kampi pool, 15 kilometres north of Kratie, home to a small population of Irrawaddy dolphins counted at 117 individuals as of April 2026. Sightings are not guaranteed on any given visit, but December to February gives the calmest water and the best odds of the year. In the afternoon, a drive down to Phnom Penh for a two-night stay.
Day 12: Phnom Penh, Royal Palace, S21 and the Killing Fields
A full day in the capital: the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda on the riverfront in the morning, then Tuol Sleng, the former school turned Khmer Rouge prison known as S21, and Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields memorial outside the city. Your guide can adjust the pace and skip either site on request; most travellers find the history worth sitting with.
Day 13: Phnom Penh to Chau Doc by river boat
A passenger boat down the Mekong into Vietnam, crossing the river border at Kaam Samnor on the Cambodian side and Vinh Xuong on the Vietnamese side. Note that a Cambodian e-visa bought online is not accepted at this specific crossing on the way out, so that leg needs a visa on arrival paid in cash US dollars, while a Vietnamese e-visa works normally on arrival at Vinh Xuong. You reach Chau Doc, near Sam Mountain, by mid-afternoon for an overnight stay.
Day 14: Chau Doc to Ho Chi Minh City through the delta, departure
A final day travelling south through the Mekong Delta toward Ho Chi Minh City, with the road passing through the flat, canal-cut farmland that this river built over thousands of years before it reaches the sea. The pace is easier than the river days earlier in the trip, with a stop along the way as time allows. You arrive in Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon, in time to connect with an onward or international flight.
What’s included
- Hotels in the class you choose, twin or double occupancy, with breakfast each morning, or an equivalent property if the one named is full.
- All meals written into the day-by-day programme below.
- A private air-conditioned vehicle for every transfer and excursion in the programme.
- An English-speaking local guide at each stop on the route.
- Every boat trip, river crossing and cruise named in the itinerary.
- Entrance fees for the sites listed in the programme.
- Drinking water in the vehicle and on boat days.
- Government tax and service charge.
Not included
- International and domestic flights, and rail tickets.
- Visas, and any fee collected at a border post.
- Travel insurance.
- Meals and drinks that are not written into the programme.
- Personal spending such as laundry, phone calls, minibar, souvenirs and watersports.
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades.
- Anything added on the day at your request outside the printed programme.
- Gratuities for your guide and driver.
- Costs arising from weather, flooding, road closures or other events beyond our control.
- Bank transfer charges.
Booking this trip
- Days
- 14 days / 13 nights
Sending this does not charge you. We hold the space and confirm within 24 hours.
For visas, border crossings and what to expect at each stage of this route, see [Travel information for the Mekong countries](mekong/travel-information).
Send us your travel dates and group size and we will confirm availability across all four countries.