Golden hour in Vientiane in January

Vientiane lies at 17.98° N, in the tropics, where the sun climbs steeply and sets fast. Its longest measured day falls on Sat 20 June 2026 with 13h 13m of daylight, and its shortest on Fri 18 December 2026 with 11h 03m — a difference of 2h 10m between the two extremes.

Evening golden hour in Vientiane runs for roughly 31 minutes at the height of summer, 29 minutes around the March equinox and 32 minutes at midwinter. The warm window is actually widest in the colder months, which makes winter evenings unusually forgiving here.

The sun sets toward 295° WNW in late June and toward 246° WSW in late December, a shift of about 49° in where the last light lands — worth checking before committing to a west-facing viewpoint. In Vientiane, the sky reaches full darkness between evening and morning twilight year-round.