Highlight of Northern Vietnam Tour 8 Days

A warm greeting awaits at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport; your private guide and driver will meet you OUTSIDE the arrivals lounge and transfer you (approximately 45 minutes) to your hotel in downtown Hanoi.

Please look for your tour guide who holds up your names on a welcome signboard.

While every effort is made to have your room available upon arrival, check-in time is at 02:00 pm; your room may or may not be ready before this time. Your tour guide will provide additional details regarding your stay, and you will be able to ask any questions you may have.

Check-in at your hotel for some rest.

Evening

18:00 – 21:00 We start our walking tour at Hanoi’s largest covered market, Dong Xuan. Along the perimeter of the market, dozens of street hawkers sell a staggering variety of produce from live seafood to exotic fruits and spices. Your expert English-speaking local guide will give you an insight into the intricacies and traditions of Vietnamese food culture including details on ingredients and historical backgrounds of popular northern dishes. Walking through the maze of bustling streets that make up Hanoi’s Old Quarter, we tempt our tastebuds with the famed Hanoi dish Banh Cuon at a local eatery. Watch in awe as the skilled chefs demonstrate for you how this tasty dish is put together. Continuing into the atmospheric heart of the Old Quarter, we wander past street stalls and quiet residential lanes where you can observe local life that has changed little since Hanoi was founded over 1000 years ago. Our next stop is Banh My 25 shop “French Baguette”, a little food stall with a few typical tiny Vietnamese chairs on the sidewalk where we enjoy the delicious and fresh baguettes while observing the neighborhood. Continue to other food stalls in Hang Bo and Ho Hoan Kiem Street where we try some dishes such as Che “Vietnamese style pudding” and Nom “papaya salad with beef”. It’s then time for dessert as we venture down a small alley to join in the local tradition of feasting on fresh fruit served in a cup and smothered with crushed iced – this specialty is one not to be missed!

Notes: Just want to take a moment to note that all transfers and tours include a licensed guide and licensed driver in a private vehicle.

Overnight in Hanoi city

Meals included: Street Food Tour

Leave Hanoi this morning for the five-hour trip to Sapa town and take in the stunning natural scenery along the way.

After arriving, you will check into your hotel and enjoy lunch before departing Sapa for an ethnic Hmong Hill Tribe Village nestled against the beautiful Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range and Indochina's highest peak, Mt. Fansipan.

Experience the traditional indigo dying method used by hill tribe families by being invited into the home of one of the villagers so that you can participate. Get to know the weavers who will be demonstrating the distinctive indigenous art of weaving hemp textiles in the Hmong tradition. Growing and weaving hemp for their traditional clothing has been a part of the Hmong culture in the northern region of Vietnam for hundreds of years. After they have finished harvesting rice from the terraces, the Hmong traditionally spend the majority of their time making garments. Take part in an interactive experience to see how the traditional process is carried out, beginning with the raw product and progressing through the creation of the thread, spinning to make cloth on the loom, dying with fresh leaves from the indigo plant, and finishing with the embroidery. The patterns that were chosen were meant to depict various facets of the community, such as rice and spiritual symbolism in addition to family life. After spending some time with a hill tribal family, you should head back to Sapa.

Overnight in Sapa

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch

Morning

Meet your local guide at the hotel or our office, and then you can start hiking.

The first place is Y Linh Ho village, which is near the Muong Hoa stream and about 4 km from Sapa town. You'll soon feel like you're in a different world because Y Linh Ho village is very quiet and not busy like Sapa town's tourist spots. When you get to the town, you'll be surrounded by green cornfields, rice terraces, the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, which looks like a giant wall, and the Muong Hoa stream, all of which are part of the natural scenery. 

The simple stilt houses in the middle of the mountain are typical of the people who live there. You can also see the shy beauty of the pretty H'mong girls in their unique silk dresses and the innocence of the highland babies.

One of the largest native groups in Sapa is the Black H'mong. They have their own language and wear traditional indigo-blue clothes. They also live in simple houses with stone walls around them and have beliefs and ways of life that are unique to them.

Having lunch at a Hmong-run restaurant in Lao Chai village, which serves traditional dishes and other regional specialties.

Afternoon

From Y Linh Ho, we took the mountain roads to Lao Chai village, which was deep in a valley and surrounded by mountains and terraced fields that looked like silk bands all the way to the front door. You'll be amazed by the beautiful sights.

Continue the journey to Ta Van hamlet, which is located at an elevation of 1.200 meters, to meet with the Giay (Giáy) people.

Ta Van is a busy village where you can see the daily lives of the H'Mong, the Red Dao, and the Giay people as well as the rice terraces along Muong Hoa stream, the bamboo forest, and the corn hills. The Giay are a small ethnic minority in Vietnam, and they concentrate in the mountains of the country's northwest. You can tell that they are not Hmong by their traditional clothing and the way of life they practice.

Travel to an eco-friendly homestay in Ta Van, where you can spend the night and have dinner. You can relax here after a day of trekking and share a traditional Giay meal with the locals; if you're interested, you're welcome to help prepare the meal.  Let's get a good night's sleep in the green room, which is surrounded by plants and rice fields.

Experience what it's like to be in a real village at night, with the sounds of nature and lots of open space, and lights that look like stars.

Overnight in Ta Van Village

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Morning

After a light breakfast at your homestay, your guide will take you to the nearby village of Giang Ta Chai. Giang Ta Chai is a village that looks like a trapezoid and is halfway up a mountain at an elevation of 1,400m. Over 30 hectares of regenerated woodland and 50 hectares of original forest surround the settlement. The wooded setting, with its waterfall, is very evocative. There are Red Dao families residing in the village. They farm and rear livestock, just like many other mountain dwellers. The Red Dao people are also known for their distinctive culture and traditional arts.

Lunch in the Su Pan village.

Afternoon

followed by an exploration of the Su Pan hamlet on a new wind of hiking excursion. A beautiful, tranquil, fairy-tale village, free of the noise and pollution of the outside world, where only the mist and the chirping of birds can be heard. Four Black H'mong and Red Dao communities make up Su Pan, and they all live on the rocky slopes of Na Trong, far above the Muong Hoa Valley. The residents of Su Pan used to be shy and reserved, living in harmony with nature.

At 14:30, your tour will end and our car will be waiting to drive you back to Sapa town and drive back to Hanoi. 

Overnight in Hanoi city

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch

Morning

After collection from the Hanoi hotel, enjoy a scenic drive to an area of natural beauty, often referred to as ‘Ha Long Bay on land’. First stop at Hoa Lu, you will have a quick visit to two temples built in honor of the emperors Dinh and Le. Having been eroded over the millennia, the dilapidated ruins have nearly been absorbed by the spectacular scenery creating a mystical atmosphere that will be sure to titillate your imagination. Keep going to the Mua cave. The place attracts visitors with its many interesting stories. Climb 500 stone steps staircase leading up the peak. From the top, you can see all the way to Tam Coc, and enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the countryside and the Ngo Dong River. Lunch will be served at the local restaurant.

Afternoon

After lunch, you get a small boat. The ferryman will take you to visit the scenic landscape of the majestic mountains, and the fields in the triangle cups when the sampan goes along the Ngo Dong river. It is an outstanding natural beauty and the scenic karst formations which contribute to its reputation as being the “Halong Bay on land”. The last activity is cycling. Cycle for half an hour on quiet roads through villages, rice fields, rivers, and rocky outcrops inside the village. The most common friends you’ll be making are the friendly cows and water buffalo on the roadside or you may have to stop as a family of ducks cross ahead of you. Finally, return to the bus, where your vehicle will be waiting for you, and arrive back in Hanoi in the late afternoon.

Overnight in Hanoi city

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch

Morning

After breakfast, the guide will then pick you up to take you to Quang Ninh Province and Halong Bay. Take 15 to 20 minutes to relax before getting ready for one of your life's greatest adventures.

At 12:30, we will arrive at the harbor, where you can board the boat and begin your voyage with our amiable, knowledgeable, and skilled crew.

Afternoon

The lunch will be served to you as the boat travels on to our destination, passing by an almost unlimited number of islands and islets. Unquestionably a genuinely wonderful encounter.

You can head to the upper deck after your excellent meal to take in Halong Bay's grandeur in all of its natural, pure, magical, and beautiful manifestations.

Are you all set to join the activity? Let's kayak for an hour around the region of the floating community. If you don't like kayaking, don't worry, you can also swim.

When the time is up, you'll head back to the boat for a fun sundown party on the sundeck. Here, you may mingle with other tourists while listening to relaxing music and taking in the breathtaking splendor of Halong Bay.

Yes, this day has been great. There is no better way to cap it off than by indulging in a sumptuous dinner prepared by our chef. After that, you are free to do whatever you wish with your time, such as sing or just unwind.

Overnight on the boat

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Morning

With a light breakfast of crisp toast, flavorful eggs, and a cup of enticing coffee or tea, you can start your day off right. When you're finished, you'll be prepared to embark on the day's main adventure: exploring the Cave.

Because it is the most stunning and alluring cave in Halong Bay, it is a remarkable destination. Your knowledgeable tour guide will talk you everything there is to know about it.

After then, the boat will continue crashing into numerous islands and islets, giving you a good perspective of Halong Bay's breathtaking splendor. Vietnam is the only country in the world where such a site exists!

Do you want to attend a cooking class? One of the regional specialties, delectable deep-fried spring rolls, will be one of the recipes you learn to make from our chef. You must do it to really appreciate it!

Later, as you have a delicious lunch, we'll cruise back to the pier. After that, it will be time to disembark and bid the boat crew farewell.

Afternoon

The bus will take you to Hanoi City. The rest of the day is yours.

Overnight in Hanoi city

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch

After breakfast, your private transfer will pick you up at the hotel and take you to Ho Chi Minh International Airport, where you may catch a flight back home or on to your next exciting destination (which we will gladly assist you in arranging).