We were in Vang Vieng when we started weighing up how to cross into Vietnam. And here's the thing nobody tells you before you start picking a land border: the question isn't really which post do we use — it's what part of Vietnam do we actually want to see. Choose the wrong crossing and you can spend two punishing days on mountain roads just to reach the region you wanted, or sail through in an afternoon. Geography does most of the deciding for you, if you let it.
So before fixating on stamps and queues, work backwards. Pick the first place in Vietnam you want to stand in, then choose the crossing that gets you there with the least pain. That's the whole method.
What to weigh up before picking a crossing
A few things mattered to us, and they're worth thinking through wherever you cross:
- Where it drops you. Every crossing has a "first real town" on the far side. That town, and what's near it, is what you're really choosing.
- The roads to and from it. In Laos especially, the distance on the map lies. A "short" mountain road can eat an entire day. Manageable tarmac beats a dramatic shortcut every time when you're loaded down.
- Traffic and onward transport. A remote crossing with almost no vehicles means a long wait for a lift or a bus on the other side. Busier posts move you on faster.
- The weather and the season. Northern Vietnam runs genuinely cold and wet in the depths of winter — something we badly underestimated.
- Your visa clock. We had a fixed window before our Vietnamese visa, sorted in Bangkok, expired, so the whole route had to fit inside it.
The Laos–Vietnam crossings, from north to south:
- Tay Trang — a recently added crossing with very little traffic. Getting there was long and complicated, though northern Laos does have the most jaw-dropping scenery in the whole country. The first town on the Vietnamese side is Lai Chau, from which you can head to Sa Pa for mountain hikes, rice terraces, and hill-tribe villages. This was our top pick if we decided to make Sa Pa happen.
- Na Meo — close to Mai Chau and not too far from Hanoi, making it the most straightforward and affordable crossing. The catch: getting from there to Sa Pa is a serious slog, and crossing into the north just for Hanoi didn't feel worth it.
- Nong Het – Nam Can — the closest crossing to Phonsavan, and therefore to Vang Vieng. But the roads are terrible (as they are on every mountain route in Laos), and Phonsavan's main draw — The Plain of Jars — simply didn't do it for us.
- Cau Treo — just 30 kilometres from Lak Xao, a town we'd already passed through when we did the Loop through central Laos. The roads were manageable, the crossing looked like the most straightforward of the lot, and it puts you fairly close to Vinh, right in the middle of Vietnam.
- Lao Bao Pass — the most popular crossing of all, but way too far south to be useful to us. It sits right near Hué.
- Bo Y — the southernmost crossing in Laos, near Ho Chi Minh City — the old Saigon. Obviously ruled out from the start.
Vietnam border crossings
It took us several days to make up our minds. This wasn't just about which crossing to use — it was about what part of Vietnam we actually wanted to see.
The south was non-negotiable: our plan was to cross into Cambodia once our Vietnamese visa — sorted in Bangkok — was about to expire, which meant we'd be travelling Vietnam north to south.
The problem was the weather. Northern Vietnam was pretty cold at that time of year compared to what we'd grown used to in Southeast Asia, with a high chance of rain and temperatures that could drop to 5–10°C up in the mountains.
That, combined with not wanting to race through yet another enormous country in just a month, made the decision for us: we'd skip northern Vietnam entirely. No mountains, no ethnic hill-tribe villages, no Gulf of Tonkin, no Hanoi…
What we missed by not going to Sa Pa
What we missed in the Gulf of Tonkin
We set the historic city of Hué as our first stop, and decided that the most accessible and practical crossing for us was Cau Treo. Manageable roads, a straightforward post, and it spat us out near Vinh, right in the middle of the country — exactly where we wanted to begin the long run south.
If you're curious how the crossing itself went once we'd committed, I wrote it all up in Welcome to Vietnam — crossing the Cau Treo border post. And if land borders make you nervous, it's worth reading how to avoid getting scammed at a land border crossing before you go — the Southeast Asian posts have a few tricks worth knowing about.
Frequently asked questions
How many land border crossings are there between Laos and Vietnam?
There's a whole string of them along the shared border, running from Tay Trang in the far north down to Bo Y in the south. In this post I weigh up six of the main ones: Tay Trang, Na Meo, Nong Het–Nam Can, Cau Treo, Lao Bao and Bo Y. Which is "best" depends entirely on which part of Vietnam you're aiming for.
Which is the easiest Laos–Vietnam crossing?
For us, Cau Treo was the most practical: the roads were manageable, the post was straightforward, and it puts you near Vinh in central Vietnam. Lao Bao is the busiest and most popular crossing overall (handy for Hué and the centre), while Na Meo is the simplest option if Hanoi and the north are your goal. The "easiest" one is the one that lands you closest to where you're actually headed.
Should I cross north or south?
Decide what you want to see first. If you're after Sa Pa, the rice terraces, the hill-tribe villages and the Gulf of Tonkin, you cross in the north — but be ready for cold, wet weather in winter. If you're starting in the centre or heading down towards Hué and the south, a central crossing like Cau Treo saves you a brutal slog through the mountains. We chose the centre and skipped the north entirely, mostly because of the season.
Can you hitchhike across the Laos–Vietnam border?
You generally walk through the checkpoints themselves rather than ride straight through, but the roads on either side are absolutely hitchable — getting to and from these remote posts by thumb is part of the adventure. If you've never tried it, start with where to hitchhike — the best spots and why they work and the full how to hitchhike guide.
Do I need to sort my Vietnam visa before reaching the border?
We sorted ours in advance at the embassy in Bangkok, which made the crossing far simpler — no scrambling at a remote post. Visa rules and what's available on arrival change constantly, so always check the current situation close to your travel date rather than trusting an old blog (including this one) for the fine print.
Which Laos–Vietnam crossing did you take — and where did it drop you? Tell me in the comments.
