Visas, borders and practical travel in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Independent travel handbook
The practical side of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
A handbook for people who plan their own route through the three countries: which visa works at which border, how to get from one capital to the next, what money and SIM to carry, and which months to avoid. Every rule that changes carries the date we last checked it.
Contents
Start with the question you actually have
Most trip plans for this region break on one of a handful of details: a visa that is not accepted at the border you picked, a bus that arrives after the crossing has closed, an ATM that only gives out large notes, or a month when the road you wanted is under water. This guide is organised around those details rather than around sights.
Visas and entry rules
E-visa, visa exemption or visa on arrival for each country, with fees, stay length and the passport checks that stop people at the counter. Read the visa overview.
Land and river crossings
The crossings between Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that foreigners can use, which visa each one accepts, and reported opening hours. See the crossing tables.
Getting between countries
Flights, cross-border buses and the Mekong boat, with honest journey times and the new airports in Cambodia. Compare the options.
Cash, cards and SIM
Dong, riel, dollars and kip: what is legal, what is accepted, and what to show when you buy a SIM. Read the money page.
When to go
Three climates in Vietnam alone, a monsoon in Cambodia and Laos, and a smoke season in the north of Laos. See the month chart.
Health, safety and scams
What official travel advice actually reports: road risk, bag snatching, methanol, unexploded ordnance and the deposit tricks. Read the safety page.
Rules that catch people out
These are the details most likely to stop a planned route at a counter. Each one is explained on its own page; here is the short version.
- The Lao e-visa is not valid at any land border with Vietnam or Cambodia. The official Lao portal lists nine ports for it: three airports, three bridges from Thailand, and three points on the road and railway from China (the Boten checkpoint, Boten station and Khamsavath station in Vientiane). Arriving overland from Vietnam or Cambodia, you need a visa on arrival where it is issued, or a visa from a Lao embassy before you leave.
- The Cambodian e-visa works at only some land borders. Independent reports list Bavet (from Moc Bai in Vietnam) and Trapeang Kriel (from Laos). The other crossings from Vietnam issue a visa on arrival instead, paid in US dollars.
- The Vietnamese e-visa ties you to the ports you name. The UK Foreign Office warns that the entry and exit points chosen on the application are binding. Pick them from the official list, and pick the crossing you will really use.
Sources: Lao eVisa official portal — ports of entry; Travelfish — Cambodia visas and borders (independent guide); UK Foreign Office — Vietnam entry requirements · last checked .
How this guide works
Each page is built around rules that change: visa fees, stay lengths, which border takes which document, airport moves, currency law. Under every block of that kind you will find a source line and a date marked last checked. That is the date an editor read the source, not the date the page was built.
Official sources come first: the Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao e-visa portals, government notices, and the travel advice published by foreign ministries. Where an official page could not be read or does not answer the question, we say so and use an independent guide or traveller report, labelled as such. When two sources disagree, the page shows both rather than choosing the convenient one.
The guide does not sell tours, visas or tickets, takes no bookings, and does not list or rate travel companies. If you want someone to arrange a trip for you, this is the wrong site. If you want to know whether the crossing at Lao Bao issues a visa on arrival before you buy a bus ticket to it, it is the right one.
Choosing a route across the region
The region is long and narrow on the Vietnamese side and wide on the Lao and Cambodian side. A loop that touches all three capitals plus Siem Reap and Luang Prabang covers a great deal of ground. People who do it overland in two weeks spend most of that time on buses.
A workable approach is to fix the two ends first. If you fly into Hanoi, the north of Laos is close by air and Cambodia is easier to reach from the south of Vietnam. If you fly into Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City, starting in Cambodia and finishing in Laos or northern Vietnam works better. Then check which visa each border on that line accepts, using the crossing tables, before you book anything that cannot be changed.
As a rough planning estimate, two weeks is enough for one country done properly, or two countries with a flight between them. Three weeks makes a three-country route reasonable if at least one leg is flown. Under ten days, three countries is mostly airports.
Who this guide is not for
- Travellers who want a packaged tour or a company to book through. We do not sell or recommend any.
- People looking for business, work, study or retirement visas. The visa pages cover short tourist stays only.
- Readers who need a deep guide to one city or province. These pages stay at country and border level.
- Anyone driving their own vehicle across the borders. The paperwork for that is different and not covered here.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
Is this an official government site?
No. It is an independent handbook. It links to the official portals in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos so you can check every rule yourself, and you should apply for visas only through those portals or an embassy.
How current is the information?
Each rule that can change carries a "last checked" date under it. This edition was checked on 3 October 2026. If a rule has changed since, the corrections form on the contact page is the quickest way to tell us.
Can you book a tour, a visa or a bus for me?
No. The guide does not sell anything or take bookings, and it does not name or rate tour companies.
Which country should I start in?
Start where your international flight lands most cheaply, then check that the border you plan to use next accepts the visa you hold. The border crossings page lists which document works at each crossing.
Related
Read next
Visas and entry
Visas
Side-by-side comparison of e-visas, exemptions and visas on arrival for the three countries.
Getting across
Border crossings
Crossing-by-crossing tables for Vietnam–Cambodia, Vietnam–Laos and Cambodia–Laos, with sources and dates.
Getting across
Getting between
Flights, buses and boats between the three countries, with journey times and the new Cambodian airports.
On the road
Money and SIM
Dong, riel, dollars and kip: cash, cards, QR payments and SIM registration in the three countries.
Planning
When to go
Month-by-month seasons for north, central and south Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, with the trade-offs.
Planning
Health and safety
Health risks, medicine rules, road safety, methanol, unexploded ordnance and common scams in the three countries.
Start planning
Send a correction or a question
Tell us what a page says, what you found at the border or on an official site, and when. A link to the source helps us check it quickly.