The second busiest thing you’ll see in Luang Prabang is the daily Night Market on Sisavangvong road. The traffic is stopped and hundreds of vendors set up their blue and red stalls. They sell food, clothes, crafts, art, and souvenirs of all kinds. There’s a courtyard ringed with food stalls and filled with communal tables to eat your goodies at.
Is this carnival of tourism worth forcing your way through the crowds? As with almost all things travel related, that depends. We’ve written this after spending over a month in Luang Prabang, visiting the night market on many occasions in both peak and off-season.
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Where is the Night Market in Luang Prabang?
The night market starts at the junction of Sisavangvong Road and Kitsalat Road. It’s hard to miss if you’re wandering the old town in the evening. It stretches far down Sisavangvong road (the main road you’ll likely wander down) and it draws a crowd.
The main food area is on the corner in a large space filled with tables and a stage for live music. Though we’ve never actually seen live music on the stage, just football on the big screens.
There are also stalls down the alleyway beside Indigo Café, These tend to be a little cheaper but not massively so. There’s also some more traditional Laos food down here but it’s still very much for tourists.
The night market runs from 5pm to 10pm every night, year round. In the wetter months, many of the tables have a canopy rolled out over the top too.
Food at the Night Market
There are around 30 food stalls in the main food area and there’s pretty much something for everyone.
There are:
- noodles
- fried chicken
- tteokbokki
- pork rice
- sweet and savoury roti
- sandwiches
- BBQ skewers & boiled skewers
- summer rolls & spring rolls
- burgers
- dubious looking pizza
- even more dubious-looking seafood
- fruit shakes
- and beers
The one thing you’ll struggle to find is Laotian food at Laotian spice levels.
A few small restaurants at the back, to the stage’s left some classic Laos dishes. Dishes like papaya salad, various curries, noodle soups, sauteed vegetables, etc. But trying to get them to give you these dishes with the appropriate chili level as a white person is near impossible.
Which is understandable as nearly everyone who eats there is not from Laos.
Prices are clearly stated and most things will cost 30,000-50,000 kip and be OK portion sizes for that price. Maybe a little smaller than other food choices in Luang Prabang.
It’s great if there are a lot of you or if you just want to have different things or if the local spice doesn’t agree with you. Maybe you just need something a little more gentle but still cheap and tasty.
We generally didn’t eat here purely due to our love of extremely spicy food, and my love of trying the lesser-known dishes of places we visit.
After 7pm in high season getting a seat at one of the communal tables becomes difficult. There’s a good chance you’ll need to make friends, squeeze into a tiny space or eat standing up.
Is the food at the Night Market safe?
Anything that is cooked in front of you is almost certainly fine. Go to stalls with queues (read: high turnover) so you know it’s fresh and nothing has been sat around in the heat. We’ve eaten “street food” for most meals all over the world for nearly 3 years and so far have never had an issue (touch wood).
I personally wouldn’t eat any of the seafood since Luang Prabang is nowhere near the sea and refrigeration is not consistent. You’ll probably be fine if you do. But that’s 2 big red flags for me.
For context, I grew up in a fishing town on the east coast of Scotland and my Dad is a fisheries scientist. So I’m more picky about these things than most people. Watching octopus slowly defrost from a huge block of ice didn’t fill me with confidence that it even would be enjoyable to eat, even if it was safe.
The fish that comes out the river daily will likely be absolutely fine though. (Probably… nothing is 100% guaranteed anywhere!)
The “Old” Night Market
If you go down the alley next to Indigo House, you’ll find the “old” night market. The stalls down here serve more locals than tourists many nights and offer a slightly different vibe.
You can get skewers, salads, spring rolls, soups, and various other Laos goodies. The stalls have designated tables, usually opposite the stall to eat at.
For a complete meal, you need to visit a few different stalls. One for skewers, a different one for salad, and someone else for drinks. And you usually pay at the end so you can keep ordering more. I have no idea how they remember who had what, but they’re pretty on it and we’ve never been overcharged. Just don’t forget to pay before you leave!
We love coming to this market and grabbing some skewers of meat and veg, some sticky rice and getting an obscenely spicy papaya salad. So cheap, so delicious. Grab a couple of BeerLao too and people watch your evening away.
If you love the Night Market atmosphere and want some food that isn’t solely aimed at backpackers, Chinese tour groups, and people from the “Global West” in general then this is the place for you.
Shopping at the Night Market
Once you’ve filled up on food, you can wander down the street through the stalls selling all sorts of handicrafts and souvenirs. You’ll find a lot of elephant pants, key rings, and fridge magnets. But there’s also some gems including handmade clothing and accessories as well as some really stunning artwork.
There are a lot of handmade items, more than most night markets in this part of Asia. But there are still a lot of the standard factory-produced pieces that are popular across the region. We really recommend visiting the TAEC Museum whilst in Luang Prabang. They have a little exhibit about how to tell the difference so it’s well worth a visit before you go shopping.
It is a market so many prices are negotiable and it isn’t rude to haggle a little. Though be aware that some stalls won’t accept less than ‘sticker price’. Generally its ok to offer 60-70% of the first price they say and then take it from there.
That said, please always be aware of how much you’re haggling over. It’s easy with large numbers to forget that you might be arguing over 30p, an amount that you probably wouldn’t pick up off the street if you saw it at home but means a lot more to a Laos person. If you can afford the higher price they first offer, then just pay it. They’re not trying to scam you.
UXO Souvenirs
Throughout the night market, and in other parts of Laos, you’ll see several people selling items made out of the UXO (unexploded ordinance). They make items like keyrings, bottle openers, or jewellery from the metal scattered across Laos from the “Secret War” with America.
Please never buy these items.
This isn’t our advice or request. This is taken from the information we’ve learned from the museums dedicated specifically to the war and the aftermath.
When you see the items for sale, they have a compelling story about “buying back the bombs” so it feels like you’re doing a good thing. But it encourages people to go searching for UXO to collect the metal. Not only is this illegal, it’s extremely dangerous and can result in serious injury (like loss of a limb) or even death.
To learn more, we really encourage you to visit the UXO Museum in Luang Prabang or the COPE Museum in Vientiane. Both are small, donation based museums that give you a better understanding of the continued damage caused by the bombing campaigns.
Local Crafts
Luang Prabang is heaven for anyone interested in buying work from the crafts people of Laos. There are many shops and organisations who work with rural ethnic groups to sell their crafts to tourists at a fair price.
Fair as in pays a fair wage to the workers for their skill and time. If you’ve visited a lot of night markets around Southeast Asia, you might be a little surprised by the higher prices than you’re used to.
You’ll find clothes, scarves, decorative table runners and placemats handmade from cotton and silk. Bags and hats, wood carvings, and handmade paper both with and without artwork.
This is a great way to put money into the Laos economy and help make a difference to people who live outside the tourist centres. We needed some new clothes and waited to get to Laos so we could buy them from the social enterprises selling in the shops and the Luang Prabang night market.
If you’re unsure if the stall is supporting local crafts people then its best to wait and visit one of the shops on the street which are more clearly affiliated. We also wouldn’t haggle when buying these items as the price is set so the craftspeople get a fair wage for their work.
Buying from these artisans helps preserve the unique crafts and skills found in the villages as it becomes a viable and sustainable source of income.
Other Markets in Luang Prabang
Morning Market
The morning market offers a much more “local” experience.
It combines souvenir shops, restaurants, juice, local food, and stalls selling all sorts of ingredients. If you’re looking for some great coffee, tea, dried riverweed, spices, or fruit then this is the place. It is a wet market though, so if you’re vegetarian or just don’t like seeing raw meat/fish being butchered then maybe give it a wide berth.
It also has a fine collection of snacks to try and the noodle shops generally also have English menus.
We recommend grabbing a coffee from Café Laolu – one of our favourite cafes in LPB – and sitting outside. It’s right in the heart of the morning market so a great place to watch the coming and going of local life.
Dara Market
Need a sim card? Phone cable? New suitcase? Handmade clothes?
Dara Market is just down the street from the LPB Night Market, away from the Mekong. It’s really a small complex of little shops selling more day-to-day items but is a good place to know about if you find yourself needing everyday items while on holiday. Like an iPhone charging cable.
“Local Market”
This night market is very much for locals to go buy the things they need. It’s just a little down river from the main historic centre and you’ll find clothes, shoes, phone cases, toys and the like. There’s some kids rides and a little snack food but nothing of great interest.
If you want to see what a night market aimed at locals looks like then you can go have a look. But if you’re short on time, it’s not really worth making the journey out to.
Phosy Market
Near Op Pop Tok, Phosy market runs 5am to 5pm and functions as the main day market for many locals in Luang Prabang. You may find it interesting to wander the stalls and see some of the more niche ingredients used in Laos.
But be aware this includes lots of bits of fish and animal – even more than the morning market. So it’s not the most suitable for vegetarians or anyone who struggles with butchered animals. Again, it’s not super interesting unless you need to do some grocery shopping or have a free early morning and like to immerse yourself in local life.
If you take a cooking class in Luang Prabang that includes a morning market tour, it will likely be here.
Final Thoughts
The Luang Prabang night market is a fun and relaxed place to grab some food, have a few drinks, and do some shopping. It’s one of the more interesting markets we’ve visited in SE Asia due to the large amount of hand made crafts for sale and is definitely walking through on your visit to Luang Prabang. Just be prepared for big crowds and a *very* slow pace during peak season.
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