It begins at Boten in northern Laos at the Chinese border.

It connects the city of Vientiane to Luang Prabang in the north and roughly follows the line of the Mekong River down to the border with Cambodia.

Between Boten and Nateuy a 20 km segment of Route 13 is part of the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, (Asian Highway AH3).

Route 13 passes through the cities of Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Phoukhoune district where is intersection of Route 7 (Laos), and Luang Prabang.

Several daily buses run from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, taking 8–10 hours.