Elephant Village Sanctuary & Resort
Elephant Village Sanctuary & Resort
Elephant Village Sanctuary & Resort
4.5
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Full view
About
Elephant Village in Luang Prabang, Laos was set up in 2003 and is now owned by a group of passioante Lao nationals. Our sales office is located on the main street in town close to the National Museum and our beautiful elephant camp is located next to the village Ban Xieng Lom. Elephant Village focuses on three objectives:1. Saving Elephants 2. Community Support 3. Nature Preservation. We take elephants out of the very dangerous logging industry and provide them with an alternative way of earning their income. We try to help the elephants which desperately need help the most such as older elephants and elephants which have injuries due to accidents. We currently have 14 elephants in our care including 2 baby elephants which will never have to work in the logging industry. We are also home to a female elephant called Mae Uak, who was injured when she stepped on a 'UXO' (Un-Exploded Ordinance) some time ago, before we rescued her. She is now happily living in our herd.
Luang Prabang, Laos
Does not meet animal welfare
guidelines
Tripadvisor does not provide bookings for this experience because it does not meet our animal welfare guidelines.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingSimilar Experiences
Elephant Village Sanctuary & Resort
Booking unavailable on Tripadvisor
Want other options you can book now?
Show optionsTravellers talk about
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
1,863 reviews
Excellent
1,368
Very good
311
Average
92
Poor
45
Terrible
47
Pamela4321
Zurich, Switzerland91 contributions
Oct 2024 • Couples
An amazing experience with elephants. The day started with leisurely feeding, observation and explanations about the elephants their care and lives. It’s impressive that the elephants are under no restraint and only talking from their mahouts to follow or stop. Riding the elephants is not allowed - we crossed the river in a boat , the elephants accompanied us with a bath underway. We walked with them through the jungle - it seemed so natural. Eventually the elephants returned to the resort and we trekked further to a waterfall for a tasty packed fried rice lunch and a swim ( 7 pers on our tour). We returned by boat along the picturesque river and then both we and the elephants enjoyed a bath in the river with a lot of water spraying around. Being so close to these majestic, considerate and surprisingly agile creatures was a unique experience- I’d like to think they enjoyed it as much as we did.
Written 1 November 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lynnblom
Plano, TX112 contributions
Aug 2020
Highly recommend going to the sanctuary. They are so kind to their elephants, treating them like a pet dog. The elephants are well trained and gentle. We rode bareback, which is better for the elephants. They let them roam free at night and they run back every morning. SOOOO much fun! They even trained the elephants to spray you with water!
Written 12 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Shelley M
Albany, New Zealand912 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
We were picked up by our guide and taken to the park. Our guide Joy was fantastic giving us lots of information. Saw the dung paper light shades which looked really cool. We got to feed the elephants and they can walk away anytime, but they are always hungry and eating. We followed them through the forest to the water and we crossed over in a boat and watched the elephants with their mahouts cross over. Continue walking through the bush with elephants close behind, we had some more bananas to feed them and they were happily scratching themselves on trees. Elephants walked back to water whilst we went on a walk through a rather baren bush, they are needing the rains soon as everything going brown. After a really nice lunch the elephants walked into the water to cool off and mahouts gave them a rub down, we got to go in the water if we wanted to and help or just watch. I like there is no riding here and a bit disappointed I saw a post here that they were being ridden by tourists! Glad we didn't see that happen. They explained the sanctuary to us and why they had to give some elephants back to the government to look after when covid hit as they couldn't afford to feed and take care of them. They eat a lot!
We enjoyed our day and the elephants called the shots and were not made to do anything which appealed to me.
We enjoyed our day and the elephants called the shots and were not made to do anything which appealed to me.
Written 15 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Leon H
Torquay, UK2 contributions
Nov 2024 • Couples
An amazing couple of days, we chose to do the one night/two days Mahout experience and we’re so glad we did. Joy, our guide was amazing, he stayed alongside us both days, giving us info and answering our questions. The elephants are well cared for my the Mahouts and there is no pressure for them to return to the base in the morning, if they do not wish too. We bathed and walked them back to the jungle in the evening. Also included was lunch and lovely evening meal along with breakfast, the lodge was that little bit of luxury for us too, also a swimming pool to relax in!
Written 17 November 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
THB123
Atlanta, GA10 contributions
Jan 2020
Got to spend a lot of time with the elephants even on the 1/2 day trip. They seemed very well taken care of and content. Going across the river with them to where they overnight and can forage was super fun and feeding them bananas and sugar cane was the best. There’s an elephant hospital, and the guides gave good explanations of how the place functions. Highly recommend!
Written 8 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jessica W
London, UK46 contributions
Feb 2020 • Solo
Great visit to this wonderful sanctuary - the tour group couldn’t find my hotel so they sent someone on a motorcycle to find me! Great service.
The elephants are wonderful and cared for. Sad to see the one who had stepped in a land mine
The elephants are very friendly and curious. I loved it
The elephants are wonderful and cared for. Sad to see the one who had stepped in a land mine
The elephants are very friendly and curious. I loved it
Written 22 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
shambolin
Manchester844 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
Having ridden an elephant in the past to my shame, I wanted to see somewhere that did not allow that anymore. This place is lovely, very tranquil and calm. Going over the river on a small boat and watching the elephants cross
was a great experience.
was a great experience.
Written 28 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
annminky
United States3,937 contributions
May 2024 • Solo
This is one of the highlights of my trip to LP Laos. The place was clean, with maintained grounds, friendly staff and bananas ready for the elephants. I truly enjoyed feeding the elephants, the gentle giants of the world. This is a nice place to educate people about elephants 🐘.
Written 10 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Blandine B
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia11 contributions
Sept 2023 • Solo
I spend my all morning at the elephant village. All the elephant are so well treated. Our guide was great and interesting. I even could help them washing those huge animals. You really feel good the way the elephants live here.
The place is also very beautiful.
The place is also very beautiful.
Written 28 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom_H_Travel
Perth, Australia12 contributions
Nov 2015 • Couples
We did the reading/research to see whether these places are genuinely caring for the elephants and with all the glowing reviews got swayed against our better judgement. I didn't want to ride an elephant as I think it is morally wrong to force such a great creature to lug me around, but the half day of feeding/bathing sounded nice. These places are NOT sanctuaries. They are wrongfully marketed circuses.
We got there 10am (our place was called PhoneTravel Elephants. Be careful as there are lots of different ones now and perhaps not all the same). The elephants were standing in the sun, chain on ankles, looking miserable. Somehow we got swooped up onto one to ride before we could back-out. It was a stomp in a loop through some bushlands and our mahout was kicking it's ears and at one stage poked it's eye! After 20 mins of feeling like we were going straight to hell, we got let off. We fed them a stack of bananas and tried to forget it. We then decided we didn't want to 'bathe them' as it was just more joy-riding and ear kicking.
Other people seemed to enjoy it and were desperate to get the 'perfect selfie' to post up about how great it was to ride these creatures. That made me feel even worse. It was one of those moments you think 'geez. Society is actually f---d'.
Anyway I can't recall writing a review before but this trip inspired me. If I can get one person on the fence to say 'yeah, maybe I won't belittle these elephants and support companies beating them into submission so I can snap myself on one with a gopro/stick extension' then it's worth it.
Tom
We got there 10am (our place was called PhoneTravel Elephants. Be careful as there are lots of different ones now and perhaps not all the same). The elephants were standing in the sun, chain on ankles, looking miserable. Somehow we got swooped up onto one to ride before we could back-out. It was a stomp in a loop through some bushlands and our mahout was kicking it's ears and at one stage poked it's eye! After 20 mins of feeling like we were going straight to hell, we got let off. We fed them a stack of bananas and tried to forget it. We then decided we didn't want to 'bathe them' as it was just more joy-riding and ear kicking.
Other people seemed to enjoy it and were desperate to get the 'perfect selfie' to post up about how great it was to ride these creatures. That made me feel even worse. It was one of those moments you think 'geez. Society is actually f---d'.
Anyway I can't recall writing a review before but this trip inspired me. If I can get one person on the fence to say 'yeah, maybe I won't belittle these elephants and support companies beating them into submission so I can snap myself on one with a gopro/stick extension' then it's worth it.
Tom
Written 23 November 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Am I correct in thinking this 'Sanctuary' still offers elephant rides? I want to check as I don't want to visit somewhere that still allows tourists to ride elephants (even bare-back) as it's not good for the elephants due to the process they have to go through to allow tourists to ride them. Looking for a true sanctuary, not a circus, and want to check my money goes to a good place. Thanks
Written 15 January 2019
Hi, there is bare-back elephant ride allowed at this place. If you don't want to support this kind of attraction, don't go there ... but my impression from this place was, they really take care of the animals and among the others "elephant city", I thing, this is the best. You can ride only for 20 mins and then elephants have free time. We saw on other places, elephants all day waiting for someone to ride on them and ride a lot of tourists :( you can check at the office in Luang Prabang if it is right for you :)
Written 21 January 2019
Are we able to visit the sanctuary tomorrow and see some elephants or do we have to book a tour?
Many thanks
Emma
Written 5 November 2018
Hi Elephant Village Sanctuary & Resort,
Can you send me an email with different tour options for adults and children? Through all the comments, I am now interested in the half-day tour with elephant bathing. Is it ok for a 30-month child to experience this? and is there any half-day tour that takes place in the afternoon?
Written 20 June 2018
Pensez-vous qu’il est possible pour moi d’y accéder en béquilles avec un pied cassé et passer la journée quand’ même et de profiter sur place?? Merci pour vos réponses
Je suis au Laos et je me suis cassé le pied en scooter .. je cherche pour l’instant qq activités que je pourrais encore faire malgré tout
Written 21 May 2018
you have tom send them a mail, with the tour you like and the send you a mail back with the prices.
this is the answer I receive in june 2017:
Tour Package Prices (tours are all-inclusive and join group):
=================================================
(all prices are in $USD per person and valid now through 30 SEP 2018)
M1D - One Day Mahout Experience = $ 99 --> YES Elephant Bathing
FDE - Full Day Elephant Experience = $ 82 --> NO Elephant Bathing
HDE - Half Day Elephant Experience = $ 49 --> NO Elephant Bathing
M2D - Two Day Mahout Experience Twn = $144 --> YES Elephant Bathing
M2D - Two Day Mahout Exp Dbl w/ A/C = $164 --> YES Elephant Bathing
Child Discounts: see section at the bottom
you will have to check this year prices
regards
Written 10 January 2018
Hello, Are your sanctuary and resort accessible for someone on crutches? Thank you
Written 18 December 2017
Hola amigos de TripAdvisor,
Hace un mes(20170626) reserve y pague el tour de mahout x un día para mis hijos y para mí, un mes después (20170731), recibo un mail del elephant village de laos, reclamándome el pago?
Desde entonces estoy enviando mails, con los datos del pago, pero como única respuesta recibo: que tenga paciencia, que el banco todavía no confirmó el pago.
Mi consulta es si a alguien también le pasó lo mismo?
Que herramientas puedo usar para no tener inconvenientes una vez que este allá?
Agradecería cualquier ayuda me pudieran brindar
Written 2 August 2017
the problem has been solved and your tour is secured. we look forward to welcoming you soon :)
Written 5 August 2017
Hola buen dia.
Quisiera saber si en la excursion de FULL DAY ELEPHANT EXPIERENCE WITH TREKKING siempre uno esta en la sillas detras del Mahout o si tambien uno puede "manejar" al elefante.
Gracias
Written 29 January 2017
hello, thank you for your question. we do NOT use the chairs in our tours. you ride on the elephant's neck just like the mahout. you may visit our website for more info and booking instructions at elephantvillage-laos
Written 29 January 2017
I have 4 country Tour Package .
myanmar-vietnam-laos-cambodia-13-days
Please suggest best route & price
Written 2 October 2016
Hi, Im going to visit Luang Prabang next week, and was wondering should I book this tour online or can I take the tour on the spot at the office when i reach Luang Prabang??
Because I cant confirm the exact date I reach Luang Prabang, there might be one or two days discrepancy.
Hope to get reply from fellow Trip Advisors! Thanks! :)
Written 15 August 2016
Hi there,
you can book online to secure your place, but if you feel more comfortable by booking through our sales office, you can also do that :)
Kind rgeards
Elephant village team
Written 17 August 2016
Showing results 1-10 of 15
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.