Explore Northern Vietnam’s culture, landscapes, and hill tribes. Bike, boat, and kayak through stunning scenery. End with a Halong Bay junk boat stay.
HA NOI ARRIVAL - CYCLE TOUR - WATER PUPPET SHOW (-/-/D)
Hanoi - You will be met by Luco Travel’s driver at Noi Bai International Airport and transfer to Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Check in at the hotel. Free & Easy.
Old Quarter - “ Xich Lo ” – Cycle Tour & Water Puppet Show.
18:00 Pick up at the hotel by “Xich Lo”, drive you around Ha Noi’s Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngọc Sơn Temple an hour at night and drop off at the Ha Noi Water Puppet Show.
Thang Long Water Puppet - We will watch the Water Puppet Show. Traditional content of water puppet performance contains daily life of Vietnamese farmers (cultivating, tending buffalo, catching fishes…), communal entertainment (swimming contest, dragon dancing…), and/or historical legends (Le Loi returns precious sword…), with a performance that has appealed to audiences for centuries.
Have dinner. Back to the hotel.
HA NOI CITY TOUR (B/L/-)
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - You will be met by Luco Travel’s tour guide and driver at the hotel.
You will visit the memorial complex for the historic figure and father of modern Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh, You will visit the Presidential palace, Uncle Ho’s house on stilts, One Pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature - Vietnam’s first university that built in 1076, You will also - the picturesque West Lake and the sixth century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda.
Later, you will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant with special Vietnamese food.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology - Afternoon: You will visit the fascinating Vietnam Museum of Ethnology - which is both a research centre and a public museum exhibiting the ethnic groups of Vietnam. The mission of the museum is scientific research, collection, documentation, conservation, exhibition and preservation of the cultural and historic patrimony of the nation’s different ethnic groups. The museum also serves to guide research, conservation, and technology that are specific to the work of an ethnographic museum.
Hoàn Kiếm Lake - You will also visit Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son Temple where a legendary turtle is reserved, and Hanoi’s Old Quarter, also known as the ‘36 streets’ with plenty of photo opportunities all around you.
Back to the hotel. Free & Easy
HA NOI - HA LONG BAY - BAI TU LONG BAY - OVERNIGHT ON CRUISE (B/L/D)
Halong Bay - 07:30. Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
08:00. After that our bus will pick you up at your hotel and depart to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is located in Northern Vietnam and is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions. Aside from being popular with tourists, it is also a culturally recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay is well known for its scenic karst topography, which is a subject of many popular photos of Vietnam.
On the way to Ha Long Bay, we will have a short break of about 20 minutes. The car will arrive at Bai Chay, Hon Gai Harbor.
Bai Tu Long Bay - 12:00. Pick-up at Hon Gai harbor. Transfer to Cruise by tender (5 -10 minutes)
12:45 Enjoy a welcome drink, then check in to your cabin
13:30 Cruise through Bai Tu Long Bay & enjoy lunch aboard with a set menu.
HA LONG BAY - THIEN CANH SON CAVE - HA NOI - SAPA BY TRAIN (B/L/-)
Thien Canh Son Cave - 07:00. Wake up early in the morning for Tai Chi exercise.
07:10. Have breakfast on a cruise.
07:30 Visit Thien Canh Son Cave (the only cave in Bai Tu Long)
08:30 Return to the boat, relax on the sundeck or watch fruit carving demonstration
09.30: Check out the cabin while our boat heads back toward the harbor.
10:00 Transfer by tender to the pier and relax inside the pier building while waiting for return transportation.
Halong Bay - 10:30 Enjoy the last scenery of the Ha Long Bay over lunch when the boat cruises back to shore.
12:30: After lunch, you will board our tender and head back to the wharf where you will be met by your return trip vehicle to transfer you to Hanoi.
17:30 Arrive Ha Noi, Leave the luggage at the lobby. Free time until our driver picks you up and takes you to the train station. Dinner by yourself.
Sapa - 20:30. Our driver will take you to the train station.
22:00 Take the train to Sapa.
SAPA - CAT CAT VILLAGE - LAO CHAI - TA VAN (B/L/D)
Sapa - 06:00 Early morning, you will arrive Lao Cai, our guide and driver will pick you up and take your family to the local restaurant for breakfast.
After that we drive around 45minutes to Sapa.
Cat Cat village - You start trekking to Cat Cat village which is occupied by the Black H’mong tribe. Here, you can see the hydroelectric power station which was built by the French in the twentieth century.
You will experience the tribal way of life of ethnic minorities while enjoying wonderful views of the terraced rice paddy fields and the waterfall in Cat Cat village.
Lao Chai - After lunch, Check in at Homestay in Lao Chai Village.
15:00 Trekking aEnjoy your lunch at the local restaurant.
After lunch, Check in at Homestay in Lao Chai Village.
15:00 Trekking around Lao Chai – Ta Van Village. In this village you will have a welcome feeling at any house of the hospitable people there. You can interact with them, learn about their culture and customs.around Lao Chai – Ta Van Village.
Dinner at the Homestay in Sapa
TREKKING LAO CHAI VILLAGE - FANSIPAN MOUNTAIN - HA NOI (B/L/-)
Ta Van Village - Wake up by a chicken or bird sound, you will have breakfast at the homestay.
Here you will enjoy the fresh air, see terrace fields, stream, visit and discover some of the H’mong’s families, three large villages with over 100 families of the Black H’mong ethnic, and people here are quite hospitable.
12:00 Check out and have lunch at the restaurant.
Fansipan Mountain - 13:00 Our guide will transfer you to Fansipan Mountain, is the highest mountain of Vietnam is also the highest peak in the three Indochina should be dubbed as “Indochinese crown” Take cable car for an amazing trip to reach the Indochina Roof, 3143m above the sea level: Starting by cable car and step up to the Peak, enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful landscapes from the high.
Hanoi - 16:00. Take the Limousine van back to Ha Noi.
21:00 Arrival Ha Noi, check in at the hotel. Free & Easy
HA NOI - HOA LU - TAM COC CAVE - NINH BINH (B/L/-)
Ninh Binh - 08:00 After breakfast at the hotel, you will departure for Hoa Lu - Tam Coc, enjoying the beautiful sceneries of the rural areas on the way
10.00: After arriving in Ninh Binh province, the guide takes you to visit Hoa Lu - the Ancient Royal capital of Viet Nam. We will visit Dinh king temple and Le king temple in the 10th century, finding out the heroic histories of these two Kings in Chinese Wars. After that, we will go to Tam Coc (10 km far from Hoa Lu).
We have lunch at a local restaurant.
Tam Coc - After lunch you will get on a bamboo boat - rowed by the local people - in Hoang Long river to visit Tam Coc (three caves) on the way. You pass through three enormous caves that provide a brief respite from the intense summer sun. It takes approximately two hours to go up and down the river and along the way, you witness local fisher folk, village life along the river and, of course, the striking limestone karst formations that Tam Coc is famous for.
If you like to go biking, it is a good idea. You will have a chance to visit real villages and amazing landscapes by bicycle about one hour (from Restaurant). After that you will take the van back to Ha Noi. Dinner by yourself.
THE COFFEE SHOP - “PHỞ” - HA NOI DEPARTURE (B/L/-)
Hanoi - Today is departure day. Enjoy some free time for last minute purchases or simply relax at the hotel.
After that, our guide will take you to the Coffee Shop – Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee G7, one of the best Vietnamese coffee and very famous coffee in the world. Enjoy a cup of coffee and get some coffee as a souvenir for your friend and your family.
Back to hotel, check out and have lunch with Vietnamese Noodle Soup – “Phở” at the local restaurant.
After lunch, take a rest or go shopping at Dong Xuan Market before your transfer to the airport for your onward flight. Then, home sweet home.
- 01 night on train to Sapa
- Lunch
- 04 nights hotel with the same program in Ha Noi
- Dinner
- Life jacket, raincoat
- All of the entrance fees as mentioned
- Breakfast
- Train ticket to Sapa
- All of the airport pick ups/drop offs are with private A/C 7- 45 seats
- English speaking Tour Guide. 01 guide in Ha Noi – Ha Long - Sapa
- Meals as mentioned above
- 01 night at Homestay in Sapa
- Mineral water & tissue
- Vietnamese Coffee
- 01 night on Cruise in Ha Long Bay
- Other services & meals than mentioned
- Visa & international flights in and out the country
- Tips, bank transfer fee if any.
This itinerary is an in-depth exploration of the culture, people and landscapes of northern Vietnam. Leaving the graceful boulevards of Hanoi behind, we explore rural Ninh Binh and the amazing limestone landscape of Tam Coc, by bike and by boat. We continue to Sapa and take a step back in time to visit remote hill tribe villages surrounded by rolling green hills and mountain streams overlooked by dramatic limestone karsts. The trip’s grand finale is at Halong Bay. We’ll stay overnight on a comfortable junk boat, with island visits, delicious food, swimming, sunbathing and kayaking. A perfect end to our showcase of the cultural and scenic charms of northern Vietnam !!!
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
