A capital that runs at walking pace

• Pha That Luang — the great golden stupa, the national symbol, on the edge of the centre. Best in the morning light, with the temples around it.
• Patuxai — a victory monument modelled loosely on the Arc de Triomphe and famously built with concrete intended for an airport runway. Climb it for the view down the boulevard.
• The COPE visitor centre — the most important hour you will spend in Vientiane. Laos is, per head, the most heavily bombed country in history, and this small centre explains the unexploded ordnance that still kills and injures people, and the prosthetics and rehabilitation work that follows. Free to enter; donations support the work.
• Wat Si Saket, the oldest temple still standing in the city, its cloister walls lined with thousands of small Buddha images.
• The Mekong riverfront at sunset — a long promenade, a night market, exercise classes, and the lights of Thailand across the water.
• Buddha Park, about twenty-five kilometres out towards the Thai border — a strange garden of concrete religious sculptures. Odd and entertaining for an hour if you have a spare morning.

Wattay International Airport is about fifteen minutes from the centre, with flights to Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon connections and other regional cities. The Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai in Thailand is about half an hour away. The railway station is on the edge of the city, roughly half an hour from the riverfront; from there the fast train reaches Vang Vieng in about an hour and Luang Prabang in about two. Book train tickets ahead in the dry season and carry your passport.

South, Pakse is best reached by a domestic flight; the road is a long day. For visas, Laos uses both an e-visa and a visa on arrival and they are valid at different entry points — Wattay accepts both, but a land crossing may not. We check your route against your passport, since the rules change.

If you are flying straight into Luang Prabang and leaving from there, you can skip Vientiane without guilt; the north is the heart of the country. It is also a poor choice if you want big-city energy. It suits travellers who want to see the capital, a transit night on the way north or south, and anyone who wants to understand the bombing legacy through COPE.