Northern Vietnam Tour 15 Days: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Ha Giang, Ninh Binh & Mai Chau

Pick-up 8:00–8:30. Visit Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake, the Ho Chi Minh complex and One Pillar Pagoda, and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (the Women's Museum on Mondays). After a Vietnamese lunch, visit the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, and Hoa Lo Prison. Back at your hotel around 16:15–16:30.

Dress code: cover shoulders and knees at the mausoleum, temples and pagodas. The mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays, and for maintenance from about 15 June to 15 August.

Day 2: shuttle bus from Hanoi Old Quarter (pick-up 7:45–8:30) to Tuan Chau harbour, lunch on board while cruising past Incense Burner, Stone Dog and Fighting Cock islets. Afternoon on Titop Island, kayaking around Luon Cave (or Trong Cave), a spring-roll cooking class, sunset party and buffet dinner.

Day 3: Sung Sot Cave, then a transfer boat into Lan Ha Bay for kayaking and swimming, the Dark and Bright caves and a pearl farm (if time and weather permit). Dinner on the sundeck.

Day 4: sunrise on the bay, Me Cung Cave (if tide and time permit), lunch on board and back to Tuan Chau harbour to continue to Sapa.

Day 5: sleeper bus to Sapa, lunch and hotel check-in, then walk to Cat Cat village of the H'mong and its waterfall. Dinner in town.

Day 6: trek from Y Linh Ho along the Muong Hoa stream to Lao Chai, a Black H'mong village, then Ta Van. Learn to cook local dishes at the homestay and eat what you make for dinner.

Day 7: walk about 8 km to Giang Ta Chai and Supan, villages of the Red Dao. Lunch at the homestay, then back to Sapa to continue to Ha Giang.

Day 8: motorbike practice, then Thai An Heaven Gate, a suspension bridge on the Mien River and lunch at Ba Tien market. Sunset at Lung Ho viewpoint and a night in Du Gia village.

Day 9: Ngoc Long village, a bamboo ferry, rice fields and lunch at Mau Due. Ride over Ma Pi Leng Pass and stop at the Sky Walk. Dinner and night at a homestay in Meo Vac.

Day 10: the riverside road back towards Ha Giang city, then the bus to Hanoi, arriving around 22:00.

Day 11: Hoa Lu, Vietnam's capital from 968 to 1010, and a bike ride through the village. Buffet lunch, then 1.5 hours by bamboo boat through Tam Coc and almost 500 steps up Mua Cave for the view. Dinner at the bungalow and a walk around Tam Coc.

Day 12: Bai Dinh Pagoda, buffet lunch, then a 2-hour boat trip through the caves of Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Back in Hanoi around 18:30.

Pick-up 7:30 for the 150 km drive to Mai Chau. Visit a Muong market and Thung Khe Pass, have a Vietnamese lunch in the valley, then cycle with a local guide past rice fields, weavers and quiet villages. Back in Hanoi around 19:30.

The original program describes days 1–13 in detail. Contact us to plan your last two days in Hanoi and your airport transfer.