Mekong tubing in Vang Vieng

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
2
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
10
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
5
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
8
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/454
Top 20%
continent
Asia
country
Laos
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$20 (typically $10 - $20)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Jungle Rice terraces / terraces River swimming
All Tags
Partying / Lash River Experience Swimming
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Jumping into a rubber ring and drifting the 4km / 2.5 miles through lush jungle, emerald green paddy fields and looking up at the serene karst hills is hard to beat.

Whilst the vibe for tubing in Vang Vieng may have changed over the years from tractor-style tires and booming bars to tubes / kayaks and more regulation, its still super fun and a must if anyone is travelling through this picture-perfect part of Laos.

 

A few basic tips:

#1 The vibe pre 2012 was a very different one.  Vang Vien itself was a full blown party town that seemed to revolve around all night raves and people stoned AF watching episodes of Friends on beanbags.  What came with that was an experience where you drifted down the river on old tractor tires off your face as you swang from ropes in the jungle canopy headfirst into the rushing water below.  Now, whilst this was indeed great fun, it also came with accidents – which for anyone who did experiencing the old school tubing, this would have came as no surprise – and wasn’t exactly sustainable for what is a very conservative country.  The changes now have closed the rave bars and made the drifting down the river more safe.

#2 The town of Vang Vien itself is not worth spending much time in.  Get yourself to the tubing or hikes in the nearby stunning countryside.

#3 For the tubing itself, it’s hard to get wrong.  You’ve got two main companies offering it – they’ll pick you up and drop you off / take you back depending on which one you go with.

 

Central Laos countryside and mountains

 

Highlights

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#1 Tubing down the Mekong as the sun was setting, really was a beautiful experience

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#2 The luscious surrounding country side that you pass by along the way

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#3 The lash

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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⭐⭐⭐⭐

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⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wine tasting around Pinhao in the Duoro Valley
⭐⭐⭐

Luxor, Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exploring Northern Burma by boat and train from Myitkyina to Mandalay
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Niagra Falls and Niagra on the Lake
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Rafting the Navua River, near Pacific Harbour
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Getting lost in the kaleidoscope of colours in Varanasi
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Three gorges cruise down the Yangzi River
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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