Northern Vietnam Nature And Culture – 8 Days
Overview
Northern Vietnam offers the best of experience- great depth of culture, remarkable landscapes and mouth-watering cuisine. The breathtaking beauty variety landscapes of Tam Coc and Halong bay combine with the cacophony of life vintage and modern Hanoi and the colorful rice terraces, the diverse traditional culture of many Sapa ethnic minorities that make a worthy trip.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Visit the most famous historic sites in Hanoi, enjoy a cyclo tour and attend Water Puppet show to understand more about Vietnam’s culture and the daily life of Hanoians.
- Enjoy a sampan boat down the river in Tam Coc and deep into breathtaking and peaceful nature, enjoy leisure cycling trip.
- Trek in depth hill tribe villages of ethnic minority to enjoy mountain scenery, see colorful rice paddy terraces and experience the truly life and culture of diverse ethnic minorities
- Relax on the cruise in Ha Long bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and admire spectacular scenery with more than 1.000 limestone islands and islets, caves, and traditional floating villages
Duration: 8 days, 7 nights
Tour Route: Hanoi arrival – Hanoi city – Hoa Lu – Tam Coc - Sapa – Halong bay – Hanoi departure
Starts/Ends: Hanoi/ Hanoi (Pickup & Drop off at the hotel)
Group Size: Private Tour Only
Commencement date: Anytime of the year
Itinerary
Day 01: Arrival Hanoi (D)
Day 02: Hanoi City Tour (B, L)
Day 03: Hoa Lu - Tam Coc - Overnight train to Sapa (B, L)
Day 04: Sapa – Heaven Gate – Silver waterfall – Optional Fansipan by cable car (B, L)
Day 05: Y Linh Ho - Lao Chai - Ta Van Villages – Overnight train to Hanoi (B, L)
Day 06: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay (B, L, D)
Day 07: Ha Long – Hanoi (Brunch)
Day 08: Hanoi departure (B)
After a warm welcome upon arrival, transfer to the hotel in Hanoi. In the late afternoon, you will take an hour Cyclo - tour viewing the charming French colonial architecture to the bustling Old Quarter and attend the performance of the unique water puppetry. Welcome dinner will be reserved at one of the best restaurants in the city.
Overnight in Hanoi.
This morning, you will visit famous Ho Chi Minh complex comprising his Mausoleum, former residence, the impressive house on stilts and view the One Pillar Pagoda. The One Pillar Pagoda, formally Diên Huu is a historic Buddhist temple. It is regarded, together with the Perfume Pagoda, as one of Vietnam's two most iconic temples. In the next step, you will learn more about the historical and cultural events at the peaceful Temple of Literature, known as Vietnam’s first university since the 11th century. In the afternoon, you will visit the Ethnology museum, a museum that focuses on the 54 officially recognized. Back to the city centre, you continue walking around Hoan Kiem Lake and visiting Ngoc Son Temple which to be the heart of Vietnam.
Overnight in Hanoi
8.00 pick you up at your hotel in Hanoi to Ninh Binh. After 2, 5 hours driving southward, we arrival Tam Coc wharf, get on the boat row while this area is still not busy, we will enjoy nice and quiet riding long river through 3 tunnel cave, consisting of the Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba grottoes. These caves are adorned with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of different shapes and colors that sparkle like gemstones. After 2 hours boat ride we get back on the shore, have lunch in local restaurant close by, afterwards we will go to visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital with 2 temples of the Kings Dinh and Le before heading back to Hanoi.
Evening, pick up at your hotel then transfer to the station for a night train to Lao Cai.
Overnight on soft sleeper berths cabin to Lao Cai.
We arrive at Lao Cai train station in the early morning. Pick up and drive to Sapa, it takes us around one hour to make our way up the mountains. Once at Sapa, we have breakfast before starting the tour.
Meet your guide and driver for a leisure trip. The drive uphill offers most spectacular scenery of Fansipan Mount. Just a kilometer out of the town, rose flower farms and later chayote grows on bamboo frames cover a vast area. We’ll stop at the magnificent Silver Waterfall before we continue the road trip for some kilometers further to Heaven’s Gate and Tram Ton Pass. At 2047m above sea level, the Heaven’s Gate & Tram Ton Pass is the highest mountain pass in Vietnam. From here we enjoy walking around for half an hour and have beautiful scenery on both two sides of Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The wind blows stronger to force the clouds moving constantly. It is the best point here to enjoy breathtaking scenery of the two side of Fansipan Mountain Range. Amazingly that the weather is very different by the side: In many days It is foggy and cloudy on Sa Pa side and sunny brightly the other side.
Leaving the Heaven Gate for the way back downhill 7 km, then stop to pay visiting to some lush farm in O Quy Ho where different kind of vegetable, flower, fruit trees and even medicinal plants are grown for years which makes this part of Sapa ever green.
Approx: 2 hours driving/ 1 hour walking
Optional: Fansipan by cable car
The cable car system in Sapa is the world’s longest and highest cable car, running up from sleepy Sapa Town in Lao Cai Province to the peak of 3,143-meter. Fansipan Mountain, known as Indochina’s rooftop.
Reaching Mount Fansipan used to mean a full-day hike at least. But from Feb 2016 the trek up will be reduced to a 25-minute flight by cable car. The 6.5km long cable car can carry a maximum of 2,000 passengers an hour, with each cabin accommodating 35 passengers.
Overnight in Sapa.
After breakfast at hotel, we will transfer to Y Linh Ho village. You will enjoy spectacular scenery while walking along a narrow river. 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.
After that we head toward Muong Hoa valley. You will pass through Lao Chai village of Black Hmong minority and then Tavan village of Giay minority by following a very popular trekking route. You will return Sapa from Tavan by car.
In the afternoon we will transfer to the train station to take a night train back to Hanoi.
Overnight on train.
We will pick you up around 08:00 am for a transfer to Ha Long Bay, listed as a World Heritage Area of outstanding natural beauty. “Dragon descending to the sea “as it is known in Vietnamese, picturesque Ha Long Bay has more than 1.000 limestone islets rising from the sea, many of them containing beautiful grottoes
Upon arrival at Ha Long Bay we embark on a boat trip to cruise discovering this magnificent UNESCO World Wonder. This is a great journey among surreal islands rising from a tranquil emerald sea.
In the late afternoon, we anchor for the night on the bay and enjoy a delicious seafood dinner on board.
Overnight on a junk boat in Ha Long Bay.
Early morning coffee and tea will be served on the sundeck followed by a Tai Chi class. After breakfast we take a Sampan boat to explore Luon Cave. We may have a chance to see the wild monkeys that gather around waiting for food from the tourists. After that we continue to cruise around the bay. Lunch is served on the boat on our way back to the docks then we return to Hanoi. Arrive Hanoi around 16.30.
Overnight in Hanoi.
Breakfast at the hotel and free at hotel until transfer to Noi Bai airport for your home flight.
End of the trip!
Important Information
Price Includes, Price Excludes
Meals
Transportation
Accommodation
Price Includes
- Hotel accommodation in twin shared as noted or similar
- 01 night on the junk in Ha Long bay in twin shared as noted or similar
- Train ticket: Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi (share cabin/ 04 berths with Air-con)
- Transportation in air-conditioned vehicle
- Boat trip in Ha Long
- Local English speaking guide
- Admission fee to indicated sights
- Meals as states in the itinerary: B = Breakfast; L = Lunch; D = Dinner
- Mineral water.
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