Luang Prabang Night Market

Why Luang Prabang Night Market is special ?

The market is open daily from 5pm to about 10pm. It is located along Sisavangvong Road from the Royal Palace Museum. See location maps (Google). Every evening a kilometre-long stretch of road is closed to vehicle traffic and turned into a walking and shopping street while the market takes place.

More than 300 handicraft vendors sell their hand-made products here every night. The market showcases an extensive variety of handicrafts made by local ethnic groups. On display are many types of textiles, exquisite ceramics, antiques, paintings, coffee and tea, quilts, shoes, silver, bags, bamboo lamps of different shades and sizes, and even rare spices.

There are a lot of interesting items on display at the night market that are hard to find elsewhere. Best of all they are cheap. The traders quote quite low prices considering most of the items are hand made.

Source: laos-guide-999.com

What to explore at Luang Prabang Night Market?

Just before sunset, vendors start setting up their stalls on Sisavangvong Road. There are a total of four rows, running along the entire length of the street. Many vendors come from nearby Hmong Market, as it disperses right before sunset, and they bring along with them the same collection of ethnic handicrafts and trinkets that they were selling there. Embroidered bags and purses of various sizes and colours, screened ‘Beer Lao’ T-shirts, cotton pants and shirts, bed covers, woven scarves, opium pipes and accessories, paper lanterns – these are popular items you will see repeatedly as you stroll through the market. Keep your eyes open, though, for a handful of stalls popping up from time to time that offer something slightly different.

Apart from the market vendors, shop-houses and hotels lining both sides of the road are also open for business. The range of products include handmade souvenirs, Lao coffee beans, homemade whiskeys, books, all the way to street-side noodle stalls tucked away in a small lane and hotel sidewalk cafés serving drinks and, of course, Beer Lao. For a serious meal, though, head over to the end of the market (where Sisavangvong Road meets Settathilat Road) and you will find the Night Food Market as well as food vendors down the narrow lane just next to it. Note that the market can get very crowded after 20:00.

Source: visit-mekong.com

How to get to Luang Prabang Night Market?

The night market is a long stretch starting from the Main post office and serpentine down the road. You just walk down towards the royal palace and join the market.