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HIGHLIGHTS
- Cultural Discovery of Hanoi
- Authentic Encounters in the Northern Mountains
- Exploring “Ha Long Bay on Land” in Ninh Binh
- Unforgettable Cruise in Lan Ha Bay
- Relaxing Stay on Cat Ba Island
Day 1: Hanoi Highlights
Stops: Hanoi
Welcome at Hanoi Airport by your local English-speaking guide who will be waiting for you in the departure hall with a sign with your name on it, then transfer to your hotel and check-in. (Rooms available from 2:00 PM)
(OPTION: Early Check-In, subject to availability)
Hanoi is a veritable museum of colonial architecture on the banks of the Red River. As the capital of a unified Vietnam, Hanoi has retained the old-fashioned charm of the French colonial era. The modernization of the city undertaken by the French in 1882 continued until 1955, and the face of Hanoi today has not changed much. You will then depart for an orientation tour of the city, including the must-see attractions: Ba Dinh Square, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (exterior), the Presidential Palace, the Ambassadors’ Quarter, the Opera House, Long Bien Bridge (formerly Paul Doumer Bridge), the Flag Tower, and the remains of the ancient Citadel.
Lunch of typical Hanoi specialties at a local restaurant, including the delicious Cha Ca dish, made with grilled fish served with fresh noodles, dill, and aromatic herbs, a symbol of Vietnamese cuisine.
In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and scholars, which was Vietnam’s first university. Then, enjoy a pedicab ride through the bustling streets of the former guild quarter, around the Lake of the Restored Sword, and visit the Ngoc Son Pagoda.
At the end of your visits, enjoy some free time for shopping at Dong Xuan Market.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at Sofitel Legend
Day 2: Free day to explore Hanoi
Stops: Hanoi
Meet at your hotel reception at 9:00 PM.
Breakfast at your hotel.
Free day to explore Hanoi at your own pace. Free lunch.
Transfer to Hanoi train station to board your overnight train to Lao Cai (SP3 train at 10:00 PM or equivalent). Overnight on board the train.
Private, air-conditioned cabin with a double bed.
Day 3: Lao Cai & Drive to Sapa
Stops: Lao Cai, Sapa
Arrival in Lao Cai around 6:05 AM.
Local breakfast at a restaurant near the train station.
You might be lucky enough to witness the amusing opening of the Chinese border to music! Everyone rushes to cross the bridge to sell or buy their goods. At this point, the Red River separates Lao Cai from Heho, the Chinese city located on the other bank.
Departure to discover a typical weekly market of the region. Tuesday: Coc Ly Market.
Free time to discover the villagers selling their livestock: buffalo, pigs, horses, and where the mountain people of the Dzao, Giai, Han, Xa Fang, Lachi, Nung, and Yao cross paths in a mixture of colors and languages.
Lunch is served at a village family’s home during your stroll through the ethnic villages.
Drive to Sapa. Sapa, located at an altitude of 1,500 meters, is a health resort entirely founded by the French in 1922. A few colonial villas still bear witness to this era. Many ethnic groups live here, such as the Hmong and the Dao. You will discover beautiful landscapes dotted with rice terraces.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at Eco Palm House Sapa Retreat
Day 4: Discover the mountainous landscapes of North Vietnam
Stops: Moc Chau, Hua Tat
Breakfast at the hotel.
Early transfer via the road that winds through the mountains, you will discover magnificent landscapes and very welcoming mountain dwellings. Several stops along the way to visit Muong, Thai, and H’Mong villages (approximately 8 hours of transit).
You will pass through Moc Chau (Moc Chau Valley) and see the tea plantations before arriving at Mrs. A Chu’s home.
Whether winter or summer, foggy or sunny, this beautiful plateau will enhance your trip with a festival of colors and scents, its meadows as green as they are flowery.
Home to tea, Vietnam’s premier beverage, the Moc Chau Plateau is known for its endless verdant tea plantations. The result of the farmers’ hours of work, the lush crops will amaze you.
Upon arrival, the host family will offer you a welcome lunch in a beautiful house on stilts.
Continue with a beautiful bike ride or walk along the back roads and to the surrounding villages; a wonderful opportunity to meet the local H’Mong people.
Return to Hua Tat at the end of the day.
Dinner and overnight stay in a private room with a local family.
Day 5: Discovering the Mai Chau Valley
Stops: Mai Chau
Breakfast at a local’s home
During the morning, you will continue walking along the embankments between the rice fields. Numerous stops will be made as you wish. This will give you an opportunity to immerse yourself in the daily lives of the local people.
Departure for Mai Chau, located in Hoa Binh province. Travel to a small village located in a valley populated by ethnic minorities, at the foot of the Hoang Lien Mountains. Access is via a road that winds through magnificent landscapes. Mai Chau is surrounded by small hamlets populated by White Thai, Muong, and Zao people.
Lunch at a local’s home upon arrival.
In the afternoon, enjoy a bike ride with your guide through rice fields and hillsides dotted with stilt houses. Flexible itinerary according to your wishes and your guide’s suggestions: visit villages where the White Thai minority live; an opportunity to meet the local people. These people live in houses built on bamboo or wooden stilts surrounded by hurdles or planks. Agriculture plays an important role in daily life. They plant rice, corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, indigo, cucurbits, beans, etc. on the terraced fields.
Dinner at a local homestay.
Overnight at Mai Chau Ecolodge.
Day 6: Ninh Binh – Halong Bay on land
Stops: Ninh Binh
Meet at your local homestay’s reception at 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast at a local homestay.
Departure for Ninh Binh (approximately 140 km, a 3.5-hour drive), also known as “Halong Bay on land.” The road is lined with mountains and rice fields. You then enter one of the most bucolic landscapes in North Vietnam. Ninh Binh Province is nicknamed “Halong Bay on land” due to its similar landscapes to Halong Bay. It is home to several sites, including Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Arrival at Tam Coc village in Ninh Binh province.
Lunch at a restaurant with a tasting of local specialties featuring grilled goat meat.
Visit the Bich Dong Pagoda (Jade Pagoda), a sanctuary built into the heart of the rock. It houses three small, ancient pagodas built in the early 18th century on three different levels. From the top, you’ll enjoy a magnificent view of the fields and surrounding countryside.
Boat trip between the karst rocks and rice paddies (depending on the season) to visit the Thung Nham Nature Reserve; superb, poetic landscapes. The trip on these shimmering waters lasts approximately 2.5 hours. The wild, natural landscape exudes tranquility. The limestone cliffs are rocked by the water like islands, and birds swirl from tree to cliff.
Transfer to the hotel. Check-in to your room.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at Emeralda Resort
Day 7: Ninh Binh – Immersive Tour
Stops: Ninh Binh
Breakfast at the hotel.
A day dedicated to discovering the marvelous “Ha Long Bay on land.”
In the morning, transfer to Hoa Lu Citadel.
It was built in 968 following the proclamation of the country’s independence by King Dinh Bo Linh, who ended Chinese rule over Vietnam for 1,000 years. It was the capital until 1010, when King Ly Thai To decided to settle in Thang Long, now known as Hanoi.
Visit the Dinh & Le temples: one is dedicated to Dinh Bo Linh, who proclaimed himself King after his victory over the invaders and made Hoa Lu the first capital; the other temple is dedicated to his successor, Le Hoan, and his wife, Duong Van Nga, Dinh Bo Linh’s widow.
Transfer to Van Long village for a splendid bike ride (approximately 1.5 hours) along the path that winds between gigantic karst gables and rice paddies. During the walk, you will visit a local family where you will meet the villagers and participate in daily activities such as working in the fields, collecting eggs, feeding the fish, etc. Continue to another family where you will be introduced to a cooking class with your chef.
Lunch with dishes prepared by you.
After lunch, continue your bike ride to the Van Long Nature Reserve where you’ll enjoy a beautiful 2-hour sampan ride on the clear waters through the marshes to admire this beautiful, picturesque natural setting.
Return to your hotel for some well-deserved rest and relaxation.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at Emeralda Resort
Day 8: The splendid Lan Ha Bay
Stops: Lan Ha
Breakfast at the hotel.
Departure for Lan Ha Bay. Lan Ha is one of the most beautiful bays in Vietnam. It is located south of its sister island, Ha Long Bay, and east of Cat Ba Island, the largest island in the region. It is home to 400 islands and islets emerging from the sea, creating several beautiful coves. The scenery is breathtaking. Some people consider Lan Ha Bay even more magnificent than Ha Long Bay. Unlike the latter, all the islands and islets of Lan Ha Bay are covered with a very rich layer of vegetation. While there are very few beaches in Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay has 139 almost deserted ones.
Embark your junk around noon and settle into your cabin. Welcome drink followed by lunch on board.
We invite you to learn more about the activities and services on and off board your junk via their website for more details.
Dinner and overnight stay aboard Orchid Classic
Day 9: Arrival in Cat Ba
Stops: Cat Ba
Meet at the hotel at 12:00 PM
Breakfast on board
Tai Chi initiation is possible on board at sunrise, a Chinese martial art that helps increase strength and muscle tone and reduce stress.
Continue your cruise and enjoy brunch on board, equivalent to your lunch.
NOTE: The itinerary and bay tours are subject to change according to the schedule of each confirmed junk, depending on the tide and weather conditions. Disembarkation and departure for Cat Ba.
Arrival in Cat Ba at the end of the day. Check-in at the hotel.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight stay at the Pearl Hotel at your own expense.
Day 10-11: Explore Cat Ba
Stops: Cat Ba
Breakfast at the hotel
Free day without a guide to enjoy Cat Ba and its surroundings.
Lunch at your leisure.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at the Pearl Hotel at your own expense.
Day 12: Hanoi without a guide
Stops: Hanoi
Meet at your hotel reception at 1:00 PM.
Breakfast at the hotel.
Return to Hanoi without a guide. On the way, stop to visit the But Thap Pagoda (Brush Tower) in Bac Ninh district, famous for its collection of precious wooden statues, the most famous of which is the Quanyin, a thousand eyes and a thousand arms.
Arrival in Hanoi at the end of the day. Check-in at the hotel.
Dinner at your leisure.
Overnight at the Sofitel Legend.
Day 13: Departure from Hanoi
Meet at your hotel reception at 6:00 PM
Breakfast at the hotel
Free time until transfer to the airport for your return flight. End of tour.
| DAY | ITINERARY |
| Day 1 | HANOI |
| Day 2 | HANOI > LAO CAI |
| Day 3 | LAO CAI > SAPA |
| Day 4 | SAPA> LAO CAI > HUA TAT |
| Day 5 | HUA TAT > MAI CHAU |
| Day 6 | MAI CHAU > NINH BINH |
| Day 7 | NINH BINH |
| Day 8 | NINH BINH > LAN HA BAY |
| Day 9 | LAN HA BAY > CAT BA |
| Day 10 | CAT BA |
| Day 11 | CAT BA |
| Day 12 | CAT BA > HANOI |
| Day 13 | HANOI |
Q&A
Official Language: Vietnamese
Capital: Hanoi
Surface: 330 967 km2
Population: 97 338 579 (in 2020)
Political System: Republic Single-party communist state
Currency: Đồng (VND)
Telephone code: +84
The specificity of Vietnamese cuisine is based on mixtures of herbs and spices that are not found anywhere else, as well as on cooking methods and a set of eating habits specific to the Vietnamese people. Vietnamese cuisine is a little-known cuisine compared to other Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Japanese or Thai cuisine. The cuisine offered by the Vietnamese hostess must be both an expression of her respect for the guests and a demonstration of her propensity to work.
Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia, surrounded to the west by Laos and Cambodia and to the north by China. It is bordered by the China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin and Gulf of Thailand. It has a surface area of 331,212 km2. Its maritime border is 3,260 km long. Vietnam is made up of three large regions, called Bộ:
In the North (Tonkin or Bắc Bộ), with Hanoi and Hai phong as main cities
In the Center (Annam or Trung Bộ), with Hué and Danang (former Tourane) as its main cities;
In the South (Cochinchina or Nam Bộ) with Hô Chi Minh City (former Saigon) and Can Tho as its main cities
No vaccination is required. However, it is recommended to protect yourself against hepatitis A and B (ask your doctor for advice). We advise you to bring your own:
of a broad-spectrum antibiotic;
of your usual medications if you are undergoing treatment;
an anti-diarrheal and an intestinal antiseptic (Intetrix, Immodium…);
a protective cream against mosquitoes;
moisturizing sunscreen, lip stick;
a healing ointment and a local antiseptic.
Water is not drinkable in Southeast Asia. Avoid tap water, require bottled water. It is harmless and safe to brush your teeth, but do not drink it.
Vietnamese (in Vietnamese: Tiếng Việt) is the official language of Vietnam. It belongs to the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asian languages. It is the Austro-Asian language with the most speakers (about ten times more than the second, Khmer). It is an insulating and monosyllabic language, with a 6-tone system. It is the mother tongue of about 85% of Vietnam’s population2, as well as of about two million migrants. Some 1,000 years of Chinese occupation have led to the adoption of a large number of words transcribed from Chinese and the old sinogram writing (the Chữ nôm now abandoned).
MINI GLOSSARY
Hello : Xin chào
Good Bye : Tạm biết
Thank you (so much): Cảm ơn (nhiều)
Can i have the bill ? : Tính tiền
How much does it cost ? : Giá bảo nhiều ?
I don’t understand : Tôi không hiểu
My name is : Tôi tên là …
Where are the toilets? : Nhà về sinh ở đầu ?
220V with several possible socket types: two flat plugs, two round plugs or three plugs. Plan to bring a universal adapter. Power cuts are frequent, but most hotels have their own generators.
On your way, you will often have the opportunity to meet local people. Wherever you are, be discreet and humble. The multiplicity of cultures and traditions means that certain attitudes are perceived differently in different countries. To avoid being disrespectful, take the time to understand the people you meet, take the time to make connections. There too, listen to the advice of your guide! He knows better than anyone the behaviors to avoid or adopt.
For example, if you want to take a picture of someone, always ask them for permission. The best way for acceptance is to have established a prior contact. Similarly, do not distribute gifts at all … This often encourages children to beg, to avoid this kind of drift, it is better to refer to the local structures competent (donate to school, hospital, village chief etc.). Finally, be careful not to wear too light clothing (short shorts, cleavage …) and avoid exuberant behavior.