Explore the North Vietnam with Wonderful Scenery private tour 8 days

In and around Hanoi 

Arrive in Hanoi. Greeted by your driver at the airport. Transfer to your hotel in the city centre for  check-in and free at leisure. 

Distance: Hanoi Old Quarter center: 40km (~ 45 minute drive) 

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi 

Start your tour early with pick-up at your hotel in Ha Noi Old Quarter at around 7:40 AM, and depart  for Tam Coc. At around 9:30 AM, arrive at Tam Coc and take the sampan go along the Ngo Dong river  to visit Tam Coc's three caves. Head back to Tam Coc wharf, take your bicycle and cycle around  traditional villages and Tam Coc town. 

At midday, sit down for a buffet lunch with Vietnamese cuisine at a local restaurant. After lunch, hop  back into the luxury van to visit Hoa Lu, an ancient capital of Vietnam. Visit Dinh king Temple and  Le king Temple from the 10th century, and head  about the heroic histories of the two Kings during  the Chinese Wars.Visit Mua cave, which attracts  visitors with its many interesting stories. Climb  500 stone steps to see all the way to Tam Coc,  enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the  countryside and Ngo Dong river.

At around 4:00  PM, return Ha Noi, arriving between 6:30 PM and  7:00 PM. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

08h00 - 8h30 : pickup at your hotel and head to Mai Chau by van with a short break along the way.  Mid day, arrive in Mai Chau, enjoy welcome drink. Then enjoy traditional lunch in village (vegetarian  available).

 In the afternoon, bicycle ride with your tour guide, see farmers working in fields, locals weaving  scarves and visit surrounding peaceful villages. Then you will have free time for bicycling, walking,  shopping 

Late afternoon, return to the accommodation. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Accommodation: Communal stilt house or Valley View Bungalow 

After breakfast, go with local tour guide to visit  more remote rural villages Na Meo and Na Mo villages to understand more about their culture and  customs. Mid day, back to the home stay for lunch and check-out. Free time for shopping and relaxing. 15:00 – 15:30 Say goodbye to the family to get on the bus to drive back to Hanoi (3.5 ~ 4 hours drive).  

Arrive in Hanoi, drop you off at your hotel. Free time till picked up at hotel for transferring to  train station for night train to Lao Cai. Meet at your hotel in Hanoi at around 20:00 hrs and transfer to Hanoi train station. Overnight train trip  to Lao Cai in Private 4-berth sleeping train cabin. Train departs at approximately 21:15 hrs. 

Notes: 

- Our tour guide will not accompany during the train trip 

- Train schedule is subject to change. 

- Private compartments on request at surcharge. 

- Train journeys are part of a great local experience. Cabins are shared with other local passengers  (unless private cabin is requested and all berths paid for - with supplement). Restrooms at either end  of the carriages complete the local experience. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Accommodation: Overnight on train

Picked up at Lao Cai Station upon your early arrival for over an hour drive uphill in a shared  mini van to Sapa. After freshen up and Breakfast in a local restaurant you will enjoy a free walk  around this charming town, paying visit to Sapa  market and the old cathedral where you can meet  a lot of local ethnic minority peoples such as Black H’mong and Red Zao wearing their traditional colorful dresses selling their farming 

and gathering products and handicrafts for souvenir.

Back to our Sapa office at about 10.30 and begin  your exploration trip to Muong Hoa valley. You will follow the main road heading south for about an  hour before turning right to a foot path down hill to Muong Hoa Valley. This part offers spectacular  scenery of the highest part of Hoang Lien Son mountain range and in a nice day, Fansipan Peak can be  seen.

Crossing the river by a suspension bridge you will challenge your feet uphill to Y Linh Ho village.  Here you will pay visiting to some H’mong families, watching them doing their daily works. After  picnic Lunch, the trail continues up and down hill for about 2 hours as you reach to Lao Chai, a large  village of the H’mong and then following the river bank to Ta Van of the Zay people. Paying visiting  to local homes, village schools… you will enjoy much your cultural discovery of local ethnic peoples  as well as breathtaking scenery of the Muong Hoa Valley. Settle down in Ta Van village for an  overnight home stay. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Accommodation: Homestay in Ta Van Village 

Leaving Ta Van village after Breakfast, you will take the trail uphill, passing fascinating terraced rice  field and some small hamlets of the H’mong before getting through a bamboo forest to a waterfall,  enjoy a break for magnificent scenery and then continue walking for half an hour to Giang Ta Chai  village of the Red Zao peoples which sits on the top of a hill and looks down Muong Hoa river.

After  spending time visiting the village, making friend with the Zao and experiencing the hospitality you  will cross the river by another suspension bridge and then uphill again to Hau Thao village where you  will pay visiting to a local handicraft center where H’mong and Zao women gather for exchanging  experience and skill of making handicrafts. A late Lunch will be prepare here nearby this center and then you have time relaxing as well as getting  acquaintance with local school boys, girls and their  teachers as well. 

Later a short drive will take you back to Sapa Town 

15:00 - 15:30 Driver will pick you up & transfer 5  hours to Hanoi by limousine bus. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi 

08:30: Our PRIVATE car will pick you up from your hotel, departure to Halong Bay – Lan Ha bay.  Short break half way. 

12:00: Arriving Tuan Chau marina, transferred  by tender of cruises. Welcome aboard the  cruise. Refresh with our welcome drink. Meet  the captain, crew in the cruise briefing, safety  instruction. 

13:00: A special lunch in Vietnamese cuisine  of fresh seafood

and an assortment of  appetizing favorites are served while sailing  through Islets of Con Vit. 

15:30: The Cruise sails through Lan Ha Bay.  

The area is surrounding of extraordinary limestone karsts landscapes. We progress to Ong Cam Area  of Lan Ha Bay- a separate part of Ha Long bay. This is a quiet tourist paradise in Vietnam, enjoy  kayaking and/or enjoy swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Bay. 

17:30 Back to Cruise, drop anchor for staying overnight. Enjoy the complimentary Sunset Party on the  sundeck with local wine and fresh fruit. 

19:00: Dinner is served in the restaurant. Enjoy delicious local food prepared and served for you by  our wonderful onboard catering staff. After dinner, retiring to your cabin or join the fishing excursion,  watch a movie, have a drink at the bar, wifi access or play exciting games. Overnight on board.

06:00: Enjoy sunrise and admire the never  ending miraculous scenery of the Bay. Practice  an invigorating Tai Chi session on the sundeck. 

07:00: Light breakfast, coffee and tea served. 

08:00: Visit Dark & Bright Cave and islets by  local rowing boats which is a wild and  mysterious beauty in the middle of the World  Heritage. 

09:15: Back to our Cruise, relax before checking out. 

10:15: Join cooking demonstration (teaching you how to make our speciality, Spring rolls) on the  cruise. 

10:45: Lunch is served on board. 

12:00: Disembark at the Tuan Chau marina by tender. Our PRIVATE car take you to return to Hanoi.

15:00 – 15:30: Arrival back at your hotel or home.  Old Quarter Street Food Walking Tour 

16:00: 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. We eat as we go, trying seasonal fruits and sampling a tasty French-inspired  snack from a street cart. 

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 two snack stops are at outdoor barbeque stalls. We sit down with the Hanoi locals and sample  various meat, vegetable and bread specialties that are flame grilled over hot coals for extra flavour. 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 and  condensed milk – this speciality is one not to be missed! Your local guide will then take you to one of Hanoi’s best kept secrets, a hidden street food restaurant to taste top ten  street foods in Hanoi is Banh My Hanoi, Vietnamese Rice  Wine and famous Egg Coffee. This hard-to-find café is one  of the few left in the narrow street inside the old quarter of  

Hanoi. Or, if coffee is not your style, a cold beer awaits! At the end of the trip you are free to continue exploring the area or your guide will assist you back to your hotel and  get ready for the transfer to the airport for your late flight   rip.