Who Are the Best Luxury Tour Operators for Laos? Eleven Companies Compared on Price, Luang Prabang and the Mekong

Extraordinary Journeys is the company this page features for Laos: its Head of Sales and Product Development for Asia, Lauren Jafry, is a Travel + Leisure A-List advisor for Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. She set out a five-day Luang Prabang plan for that magazine on 15 October 2026. The company’s own Laos and Thailand route puts guests on Gypsy, a private two-cabin boat, on the Mekong from day 4 to day 6, 16 days from $26,000 per person. Ten other luxury operators publish priced tailor-made routes with nights in Luang Prabang, from $3,124 per person for ten days of Laos alone (Exotic Voyages). This page gives no score. Each company is shown with what its own website says and the date it was read.

Who is on this page and why

A company is on this page if it is one of the thirteen luxury tour operators on this site’s Vietnam and Cambodia page and its own website publishes a priced, tailor-made itinerary with nights in Luang Prabang. Eleven of the thirteen do. Two of the thirteen do not meet it: Abercrombie & Kent’s Laos page lists two multi-country journeys that reach Luang Prabang, both group departures (up to 18 and up to 50 guests); Trails of Indochina lists Laos itineraries with no price. All thirteen were read on 20 October 2026. Extraordinary Journeys is shown first because its itinerary and Lauren Jafry’s plan are the ones this page features; the other ten follow in alphabetical order.

How to read a card. Prices are each company’s own, per person, as printed on 20 October 2026, in the currency its page showed; nothing is converted. A from-price is the lowest the company prints, usually for two people sharing in the cheapest month. Reviews are shown per platform and never added together. “Not stated” means the company’s page was read and the fact is not there.

How much does a luxury trip to Laos cost?

A tailor-made Laos trip with nights in Luang Prabang is published from $3,124 per person for ten days of Laos alone (Exotic Voyages) to $26,000 for 16 days of Laos and Thailand with a private Mekong boat (Extraordinary Journeys). Each company’s lowest printed price for a route through Laos, read on 20 October 2026, shortest trip first:

• Artisans of Leisure: Introduction to Luang Prabang, 5 days, from $8,685 per person, double occupancy, four nights at Amantaka.
• Ampersand Travel: A Week in Laos, 8 days, from £4,500 per person for 2026, Amantaka then Pakse.
• Remote Lands: Classic Laos, 8 days, from $9,200 per person, Luang Prabang to Don Khone.
• Kensington Tours: Laos Signature, 9 days, from $3,231 per person, double occupancy, three nights in Luang Prabang.
• Red Savannah: Classic Laos, 9 days, from $4,551 to $5,417 per person sharing, inclusions listed, four nights at Rosewood Luang Prabang.
• Exotic Voyages: Rhythm of Laos, 10 days, from $3,124 per person, a low-season reference price, five nights at Satri House.
• Scott Dunn: Ultimate Laos, 10 nights, from £5,300 per person sharing from October 2026 to April 2027 (£4,600 from May to September 2027), international flights included.
• Extraordinary Journeys: Intrepid Southeast Asia, 11 days with four nights in Luang Prabang, from $12,500 per person; the Laos and Thailand overland adventure with Gypsy on the Mekong, 16 days, from $26,000.
• Black Tomato: Thailand and Laos: A Peaceful Escape, 15 nights, from £8,750 per person sharing, flights extra, Amantaka in Luang Prabang, ending at Khao Lak.
• Jacada Travel: A Luxury Grand Tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 19 days, price guide from €17,299 per person as shown in Spain, three nights in Luang Prabang at the end.
• Audley Travel: Intrepid Laos, 20 days, from $11,685 per person, international flights extra, Chiang Rai to Vientiane.

Extraordinary Journeys, Exotic Voyages, Kensington Tours and Remote Lands print no inclusions list beside their dollar prices; Artisans of Leisure, Audley Travel and Red Savannah do. Ask each company what its from-price covers, for how many people and in which month, before setting one beside another.

Luang Prabang as Lauren Jafry plans it

Lauren Jafry, Head of Sales and Product Development, Asia, at Extraordinary Journeys, set out a five-day Luang Prabang plan in Travel + Leisure on 15 October 2026: a guided trek to Kuang Si Falls ahead of the day-trip vans, a private architecture walk with Francis Engelmann, a cooking day in Mrs Noy’s family home and almsgiving in a residential street rather than on the main streets. Travel + Leisure names her as a member of its A-List who specialises in Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. Her profile on the company’s site gives 15 years in the travel industry, a start running a clean water project in Cambodia and a base in California. What follows is a summary of her Travel + Leisure itinerary, read on 20 October 2026; the article has her full text.

• Where to stay. Amantaka, near the night market and close enough to walk to the temples, or a waterfall pool villa at Rosewood Luang Prabang in the forest outside town.
• Kuang Si Falls. A two-hour guided walk through the forest to reach the pools before the vans arrive, then an after-hours visit to the National Museum in the former royal palace.
• Elephants. Mandalao Elephant Conservation, home to elephants rescued from labour and tourist rides, with low-impact visits built around education.
• Architecture. A private walk with Francis Engelmann, a long-time resident who worked on securing and keeping the town’s UNESCO listing.
• A family kitchen. The morning market with Mrs Noy, a boat upriver to her home and Lao dishes cooked over a wood fire.
• Temples at dusk and dawn. A private meditation and chanting session led by a monk, a Baci blessing ceremony, then almsgiving at sunrise in a quiet residential neighbourhood.
• Where to eat. Little Lao Culture Bar, then Manda de Laos beside its three lily ponds.
• Onward. The high-speed train to Vang Vieng, or on to Bangkok, Hanoi or Siem Reap.

Several of these appear in the company’s own published itineraries: Mrs Noy’s cooking lesson, the Baci ceremony and meditation with monks are days 2 to 4 of Intrepid Southeast Asia; the National Museum and the Kuang Si trek are days 2 and 3 of the route below.

The itinerary we feature: Laos and Thailand overland adventure

Three nights at Rosewood Luang Prabang, then days 4 to 6 down the Mekong on Gypsy, a two-cabin riverboat chartered for the party alone, to the Golden Triangle, before Bangkok and Koh Samui: 16 days, from $26,000 per person. That is the price on Extraordinary Journeys’ itinerary page, read 20 October 2026. The page states no sharing basis and no inclusions list, so ask for both in writing. The day plan below is summarised from that page; the hotels named are the ones it names.

The company this page features

Extraordinary Journeys is featured first because the itinerary above is its route and the Luang Prabang plan is Lauren Jafry’s; its facts were read the same way as everyone else’s.

Alternatives to Extraordinary Journeys for Laos

Ten other companies meet the rule at the top of the page; they follow in alphabetical order, each with its own published Laos route and price.

When is the best time to visit Laos?

November to April is the dry season and the usual time to go; November to February is the mildest stretch and March and April are hot. May to October brings rain and fewer visitors. That is how Extraordinary Journeys’ Laos page divides the year. Remote Lands gives the same shape with its own months: November to March cool at about 21 to 27°C and colder in the mountains, April and May hot, when it can rise over 38°C and is often hazy, June to September the rains, heaviest in July and August, when the country is greenest.

• November to February: dry and mild; the main season for Luang Prabang and the river.
• March and April: dry and hot, with haze; early starts for walking.
• May: the wet season begins (Extraordinary Journeys); Remote Lands still counts it in the hot season.
• June to September: the rains, heaviest in July and August; green, quieter and humid.
• October: the end of the rains; Remote Lands counts it in the best time to visit.

Who to contact first

Start with the company whose published route is closest to the trip you want, then ask one other for a second quote on the same brief.

1. For a slow trip with the Mekong by private boat: Extraordinary Journeys; ask for Lauren Jafry and for what the $26,000 and $12,500 from-prices cover. Enquire.
2. For Luang Prabang alone: Artisans of Leisure, four nights at Amantaka.
3. For Luang Prabang and the south: Ampersand Travel, Red Savannah or Remote Lands.
4. For the lowest published prices: Exotic Voyages or Kensington Tours; compare the hotels as well as the price.
5. For Laos inside a longer trip: Jacada Travel with Vietnam and Cambodia, Black Tomato with northern Thailand, Audley Travel for twenty days.
6. From the UK with flights included: Scott Dunn.

What to ask every company to itemise: nights in Luang Prabang and the hotel for each; whether the guide and vehicle are private on every day; boat days on the Mekong and whether the boat is yours alone; internal flights and the train; visa help on arrival; what is not included; the price for your party and month; the deposit and cancellation terms.

Richard Jasinski · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · first published 20 October 2026 · updated 20 October 2026