8 Day Best of Northern Vietnam

hanoi

Day 1: Welcome To Hanoi!

Welcome to Vietnam!

Arrive at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, collect your luggage and process through customs. Your private tour guide and driver will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/customs area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel downtown. Your guide will take you on a walking tour of Hanoi Old Quarter, which combines food tasting with off-the-beaten track sightseeing. This is a fun way to explore Hanoi and and feel like a local!

This tour is designed to give you the confidence to go out and try street food on your own when you visit a heaven of street food such as Vietnam. Your local guide will then take you to one of Hanoi’s secrets, a hidden café. This hard-to-find café is one of the few left in the city that still serves egg coffee, a scrumptious local delicacy that you will sample.

hanoi

Day 2: Tour Magical Hanoi!

After breakfast, your adventure tour in Vietnam begins as your private tour guide picks you up and takes you on a full-day city tour of Hanoi. It is famed for its tree-lined boulevards, French colonial architecture, and a thousand years of history. Prepare to see the most exciting places in Hanoi - Thang Long Citadel, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the One Pillar Pagoda.

Today you will have Pho for lunch at Pho Huyen, a Vietnamese Noodle shop. Some of the local people call this world-famous Noodle soup “Mac-Noodles” since it is as popular here as MacDonalds is in other parts of the world! At the restaurant, your tour guide will explain the routine during Vietnamese meal times, and also tell you all about the special ingredients.

After lunch, return your hotel for some rest before strolling along the iconic Hoan Kiem lake and the most exciting shopping part of the Old Quarter. 

hanoi - Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh

Day 3: History & serenity from Hoa Lu to Tam Coc

Today you'll set out on a day trip to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc. At the former, learn more about the feudal dynasties of Vietnamese history as you visit the remaining two temples of the kings Dinh and Le. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant, then you will take a fve-minute walk to the docks to embark on a three-hour boat trip to Tam Coc.

Known as the Ha Long Bay on land, Tam Coc stretches along the Ngo Dong River. Enjoy the majestic landscape of limestone mountains, rice paddies and temples, and explore three caves including Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. After the tour, return to Hanoi where your guide and driver will transfer you Hanoi Train Station at Tran Qui Cap Street, to board the night train to Lao Cai.

Sapa

Day 4: Discover Green Sapa

You will arrive early in the morning in Lao Cai station. At the train exit you will be collected by your private guide, and driven in a private vehicle for 1 hour trip to Sapa, the former French Hill station.

Enjoy a discovery tour of Sapa and surroundings. With your guide you will start a leisure trek downhill to Cat Cat village for breathtaking scenery of rice terraces. As you walk through these villages nestled in the valleys below Sapa, you will meet some of the local ethnic minority people such as Black H’mong and Red Dzao.

You eventually arrive in Y Linh Ho village of Black Hmong minority, where you can take a rest while you are served lunch nearby the river. You wil certainly feel relaxed by the absolute calmness around you as well as the spectacular landscape.

Sapa - hanoi

Day 5: Embark On A Trek Today

After breakfast at the hotel, you will begin the day with a 3km trek through a breathtaking landscape to Matra village. Here you will come across the impressive ruins of a church dating back to the French occupation in the early 1900s. 

In the afternoon, while you continue trekking to the village of Ta Phin you will be able to meet both Black Hmong and Red Dao minorities. The Red Dao is known for their expertise in herbal medicine as well as usage of plants from the land to treat many illnesses. Your guide will be able to introduce you to some Red Dao women who can tell you more about their many remedies. 

After that, a transport will be provided from Ta Phin back to your hotel in Sapa town. Then collect your luggage and catch the Express Bus to return to Hanoi.

hanoi - Ha Long Bay

Day 6: Off To Halong Bay!

Today, you will drive for 4 hours to Halong Bay with many photo stops en-route to capture farmers’ activities in their rice/vegetable fields. You will get a first-hand impression of the lives of the common people in Vietnam.

Arrive in Halong Bay, board your traditional junk, enjoy seafood lunch and start your shooting campaign while you cruise amongst thousands of limestone cliffs arising from the emerald water of World Heritage Halong Bay.

Your junk will pass by some floating fishing villages and famous limestone rock formations. Enjoy the moment and feel recharging power of the majestic surroundings!

Ha Long Bay - hanoi

Day 7: Travel Back To Hanoi

Rise and shine early in the morning so that you can admire the breathtaking sunrise over the spectacular horizon, reflecting in the pristine waters of the bay.

You may join a Tai Chi class on the sundeck if you wish before enjoying breakfast. Return to the shore and disembark from the cruise as your crew says farewell.

Wind your way back to Hanoi with a stop en route for refreshment.

hanoi

Day 8: Farewell, Vietnam!

Today is for you to spend at leisure and explore around at your own pace. Breakfast is still included and check out is at mid-day.

Depending on your departure time a private driver will collect you from the hotel and transfer you back to the airport for your departure flight.

Safe travels home, and visit again soon!