Route index · Verified 14 October 2026
41 bus and train routes to, from and within Laos, with journey time, fare, the border each one crosses, and whether you can book it online.
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Every route below was checked on 14 October 2026 against what is on sale online. 32 can be booked online. 9 cannot; they stay on the list, each with a note explaining why.
Every route below uses one of the five Friendship Bridges or the Vang Tao land crossing; hours, fees and the visa rules at each are in the Laos–Thailand border guide.
The long-haul option on this border, usually run as an overnight sleeper. Many travellers cover the same ground more cheaply by crossing at Nong Khai and continuing separately on a Thai bus or train.
The busiest hop on this border, and the easiest place to change onto Thailand's onward network, including the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok.
Thailand's Transport Co. (BKS) launched a direct Route No. 2 service on 9 September 2026: an 80-baht, 40-seat second-class coach that calls at Udon Thani International Airport before continuing to Vientiane, one round trip a day. Departs Udon Thani Bus Terminal 1 at 09:00, the airport at 09:30, arriving Vientiane 12:00; returns from Vientiane at 14:00, the airport at 16:30, Udon Thani at 17:00. Not sold online yet; buy at the terminal.
Passes through Nong Khai on the way to northeastern Thailand's largest city, a common changeover point for onward Isaan destinations.
The long way round by road. Many travellers do only one leg this way and take the Mekong slow boat for the other, rather than the same road twice.
Several hours shorter than the Chiang Mai run, on the same road through Huay Xai.
The short final hop for travellers who took the two-day Mekong slow boat down from Luang Prabang.
The bridge shuttle isn't sold online, buy the ticket at the counter after Thai immigration, about 20 baht. Book the onward leg from Huay Xai instead, to Chiang Rai or on to Luang Prabang.
The only Laos–Thailand crossing on this list that is a plain land border rather than a river bridge.
Not sold online at the moment: no bookable seats on any of seven dates checked between 23 September and 4 November 2026, in either direction. The international bus between Savannakhet and Mukdahan still appears on the operator timetable, with departures from 08:15, so buy the ticket locally rather than online.
The crossing where the Thakhek Loop motorbike route begins on the Lao side.
Served by the cross-border bus that launched on 8 January 2026, 100 baht flat, four departures a day each way. Not sold online yet; buy at Bueng Kan Provincial Bus Terminal or in Pakxan.
All of these cross at one of nine checkpoints, and only one issues a Lao visa on arrival: the Laos–Vietnam border guide says which.
An overnight sleeper between the two capitals, the main road link on this border.
Not sold online at the moment: no bookable seats on any of seven dates checked between 30 September and 4 November 2026, in either direction. A daily sleeper still appears on the published timetable, leaving Vientiane at 06:00 and taking about 14 hours; ask at Vientiane's Southern Bus Terminal (Dong Dok).
Crosses into central Vietnam, with Hue's imperial citadel a short hop onward from the border.
The longest of the routes on this crossing, ending on Vietnam's central coast.
The busiest Laos–Vietnam gate, on the way to Hue's imperial citadel.
The same crossing as the Hue service, continuing further down the coast.
The longest option on this crossing, for the capital rather than the central coast.
Direct minivans leave Pakse around 04:00 and cross at La Lay via Salavan. No Lao visa is issued at La Lay, so coming the other way you need one in advance.
The same early minivans as Pakse to Hue, via La Lay, continuing to the coast.
A quieter crossing than the others on this border, close to the Phong Nha caves.
Runs through Phonsavan to the Nam Kan – Nậm Cắn border; coming the other way, that gate issues no Lao visa on arrival.
No bookable service on this pair. The crossing exists, but the bus does not run to a schedule you can reserve ahead. Buy in Thakhek a day or two before, or route via Vientiane.
The Na Phao–Cha Lo crossing is the direct line to Phong Nha, but there is no bookable service. Travellers generally go via Vientiane or Savannakhet instead.
Two direct services a day, run by HTX Van Tai 277 and Thakhek Travel.
The Phou Keua–Bờ Y crossing is open but carries almost no scheduled passenger transport. Local buses run irregularly; ask in Attapeu.
No through ticket you can book: nothing was bookable online for this pair on any of three dates checked in September and October 2026. The flights themselves do run, all connecting through Vientiane, on Lao Airlines, Lao Skyway, Lanexang Airways or Cambodia Angkor Air. Overland, no scheduled bus across the Na Mèo crossing could be found in October 2026; travellers report crossing by motorbike, shared taxi or hitchhiking.
Not sold online. A local bus runs between Muang Khua and Điện Biên Phủ through the Pang Hok–Tây Trang crossing; buy the ticket at the bus station, and expect to agree the fare with the driver if the counter is closed.
Every route here crosses at Nongnokkhene, the only legal land border, open 06:00 to 18:00: see the Laos–Cambodia border guide.
The gateway to Angkor Wat, on Laos's only crossing into Cambodia.
The same crossing as the Siem Reap service, continuing south to the Cambodian capital.
The short version of this crossing, useful for breaking the longer Siem Reap or Phnom Penh journey.
Starts right at the border, shaving hours off the same journey from Pakse.
The shortest leg across this border, often paired with an onward bus the same day.
Starts closer to the crossing than the Pakse service, for travellers already based in the islands.
Bus, minivan or train: the guide to getting around Laos compares them, and each card links its destination's station guide.
The gateway to Vang Vieng's karst scenery, and the shortest hop on the Laos–China Railway.
The country's best-connected long-haul run, with an overnight VIP bus alongside the much faster railway.
The overnight route south, ending near Wat Phou's Khmer ruins and the Bolaven Plateau's coffee country.
The route into the Thakhek Loop, one of Laos's best-known motorbike circuits.
Links the country's two most-visited towns, with karst scenery continuing most of the way.
The road ends here; the Nam Ou river takes over for the boat trip north to Muang Ngoi.
| Holiday | When | Travel impact |
|---|---|---|
| Pi Mai (Lao New Year) | 13–15 April officially, but effects spread across 12–18 April every year | Moves most of the country at once. Book long-distance routes, especially sleepers, several days ahead. |
| Vietnamese Tết (Lunar New Year) | Late January or February, date changes every year | The week around Tết brings heavy demand and thinner schedules on every Laos–Vietnam crossing and route. Shift your date if you can. |
| Boun That Luang | Tuesday 24 November 2026 (full moon of the 12th lunar month, usually November; the date moves each year, with the trade fair and processions building through the preceding week) | Vientiane's largest festival. Expect the capital's hotels and the roads in and out of it at their most crowded of the year. |
The route list above is also a free data file, routes.json, for anyone building a travel app, a guide or a piece of research. For each route it gives the border crossing, the usual journey time, a rough fare, whether you can book it online and where, and a link to that crossing's page on the official Lao register.
Before we call a route unbookable we try several departure dates weeks apart, and routes you can't book online stay in the list with the reason. Last checked 14 October 2026.
You're free to reuse it under CC BY 4.0; please credit Laos Bus Tickets and link back to this page. A citation that works: Laos Bus Tickets, "Laos Bus, Train and Flight Routes", 14 October 2026, https://laosbustickets.com/routes/.
The file is mirrored on GitHub and Hugging Face for anyone who prefers to pull it from there, but this page is the original, so if the two ever differ, trust this one. The border crossings behind these routes have their own register: all 33 Laos border checkpoints.
Laos Bus Tickets
Written and maintained from Vientiane. The people behind this site have lived in Laos for two decades and cross these borders themselves. Routes and visa rules get rechecked whenever something changes, not on a fixed schedule that lets stale information sit for months.