Travel from Phnom Penh to Vientiane

By bus the journey from Phnom Penh to Vientiane is scheduled to take 27 hours 30 minutes, and by direct flight the journey Phnom Penh to Vientiane is scheduled to take 1 hour 35 minutes.

Bus Times from Phnom Penh to Vientiane

There is currently 1 direct service a day from Phnom Penh to Vientiane available to book online.

Buy Tickets from Phnom Penh to Vientiane

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Phnom Penh to Vientiane.

Flights are available to book through the Search Box above as well as bus services.

Phnom Penh Bus Stop

• Asia Van Transfer bus services from Phnom Penh to Vientiane depart from the Phnom Penh Maneth Transportation Office on France Street.

Vientiane Bus Stop

• Asia Van Transfer bus services from Phnom Penh to Vientiane terminate at Vientiane Southern Bus Station.

About Travel to Vientiane

Vientiane is Laos’s largest city with over 800,000 permanent residents. Despite the overall large size of the city, Vientiane’s main tourist attractions are nearly all clustered into one area, and nearly all the foreign visitors to Vientiane choose to stay in the same small area by the river which is nearby.

Tourism in Vientiane

Located close to the border with Thailand, Vientiane is both a transport hub for travel within Laos and a destination in it’s own right. Many visitors will enter the country from Nong Khai in Thailand and pass through Vientiane on the way to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. Vientiane does not have the same appeal to tourists as Luang Prabang, but there’s enough of interest in Vientiane to make it worth staying there for few days. Vientiane also has lots of good restaurants and some bars clustered around the Quai Fa Ngum Road which make the city a comfortable place to stay.

Avenue Lane Xang

The main street in Vientiane is the long wide Avenue Lane Xang which was built under French colonial rule and is reminiscent of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. At the bottom end of the Avenue Lane Xang, which is close to the eastern end of the Quai Fa Ngum Road, is Vientiane’s Presidential Palace, and at the top end is the Patuxai Monument. On route between these two landmarks is the excellent Wat Si Sa Ket.

Walking up the Avenue Lane Xang and climbing the Patuxai Monument is recommended. This is the most famous part of the city.

Pha That Luang

Pha That Luang is the other main tourist attraction in the city. It’s located to the North of the Avenue Lane Xang, 6 km by road from the Quai Fa Ngum Road. If you are staying on or near the Quai Fa Ngum Road, like most foreign visitors to Vientiane, then you need to take a tuk tuk or motorbile taxi to reach Pha That Luang.

The effort of travelling all the way to Pha That Luang is, however, well worth it. Pha That Luang is arguably Laos’s most important temple. No one knows for certain how old Pha That Luang is. The temple became nationally significant from the 1560s onward when Vientiane was made the capital of Laos.

Pha That Luang’s defining feature is its 44 metre tall central golden chedi. According to legend the chedi is built over the top of much older stupa within which fragments of the Lord Buddha’s pelvic bone are entombed. Local belief is that these religious relics were brought to Laos during the reign of King Ashoka, who was Emperor of India from 268 to 232 BCE, which would make Pha That Luang more than 2,500 years old.