6-Day North Vietnam Journey: Hanoi, Sapa, Halong, Ninh Binh
Highlights:
When coming to North Vietnam, you can explore ancient cultural and historical works in Hanoi, experience special features of the people in the capital, visit the famous sights in Halong and Ninh Binh, and immerse in the simple life of the mountainous ethnic minority community in Sapa.
Highlight destinations in the 6 days and 5 nights program from Hanoi:
- Tran Quoc Pagoda: The oldest pagoda in Hanoi with a history of up to 1,500 years, voted as one of the most beautiful temples in Vietnam and the world.
- Cat Cat village: attractive with simple wooden houses, small streams, colorful brocade panels, and rustic life of ethnic people.
- Halong Bay: is one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam to visit and also one of the famous natural attractions of Southeast Asia. With 1,969 limestone islands and floating villages on the blue seawater, Ha Long’s beauty seems to make time stop.
- Bai Dinh Pagoda: a complex of pagodas is beautiful and large scale in Vietnam, possessing plenty of records.
- Trang An scenic spot: has a majestic natural-cultural value that contains many outstanding features with beautiful landscapes created by mountains, rivers, and caves.
A quick look at the short itinerary:
- Day 1: Hanoi city to visit its highlights and taste Pho for lunch
- Day 2: Hanoi to Sapa, explore the mountainous beauty at Ham Rong mountains
- Day 3: Sap to Hanoi, discover the cultural color at Cat Cat village
- Day 4: Hanoi to Halong, spend overnight on the charming cruise in one of the most beautiful bays in the world
- Day 5: Halong to Hanoi, continue visiting Halong Bay and enjoy exciting games (roller coaster, for example)
- Day 6: Hanoi to Ninh Binh, the new destination with an incredible landscape with the biggest pagoda in Vietnam
Details of experience:
Day 1: Hanoi City (L)
In the morning:
We pick you up at the meeting point to drive you to visit:
- Tran Quoc Pagoda – a beautiful and oldest pagoda in Hanoi,
- Visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum – The last resting place of the beloved leader,
- Visit Uncle Ho’s stilt house – The place where he lived and worked from 1958 to 1969,
- The next stop is One Pillar Pagoda – the temple has a unique architecture with the look of a lotus in the middle of the lake.
At lunch, we will taste Pho – a famous noodle soup in Vietnam.
In the afternoon:
The next stop is Quoc Tu Giam Temple (Temple of Literature) – the first university in Vietnam to worship Confucius. The Vietnamese people come to this place to show the education spirit to encourage the students to study harder.
Next, you visit Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi and stop at Ngoc Son Temple on the lake with beautiful scenery.
Back to the hotel to rest, have dinner by yourself, and walk around the night of Hanoi Old Quarter.
You can enjoy the water puppet show – a traditional art performance coming from the agricultural activities in North Vietnam.
The nights of Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday: More programs go to the Museum of Ethnology.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Add a program to Bat Trang Pottery Village – the ancient village to make pottery products.
Stay overnight in Hanoi.
Day 2: Hanoi – Sapa – Ha Rong (B, L)
Morning:
8:00 am, we pick up at the hotel and follow the Noi Bai – Lao Cai highway to drive to Sapa – a lovely city in the mountains in Northwest Vietnam.
On the way, you will see the beautiful scenery on this road. Around 12:00 – 1:00 pm, we reach Sapa.
We have lunch and check in at the hotel for a short break.
Afternoon:
We start a journey to discover Ham Rong with a magnificent landscape. You will visit the orchid garden with various types in different colors.
Passing Troi 1 & 2 gate, you will reach the highest place of Ham Rong. San May (Cloud Yard) is the intersection of heaven and earth, where you can see a panoramic view of Sapa.
Then, go back to the hotel to rest and have dinner. You are free to explore Sapa town at night.
Overnight in Sapa.
Day 3: Sapa – Cat Cat – Hanoi (B, L)
Morning:
After breakfast, you start the journey to discover Cat Cat village – the village of H’mong people, to learn about the unique culture and customs of the local people here.
Then, we come back to the Sapa to have lunch.
Afternoon:
You are free to go shopping in the Sapa market.
After that, the car will pick you up to travel back to Hanoi. We will get to the hotel in Hanoi city center.
We will try to choose a hotel in the Old Quarter. If no rooms are available, we will book a beautiful hotel out of the old city.
You will take a rest and explore Hanoi at night by yourself.
Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.
Day 4: Hanoi – Ha Long (B, L, D)
Morning:
After having breakfast, check out the hotel. The driver (without a guide) will pick you up to drive to Ha Long Bay. This bay owns thousands of islands, creating an incredible landscape in the sea.
When coming to Ha Long Bay, you get on the boat to check in and have lunch.
Afternoon:
The cruise takes you to Sung Sot Cave, a wide and charming cave of the bay with countless miraculous stalactites in their shimmering beauty.
After discovering Su Sot Cave, we go back to the ship. The cruise will move around the bays to see amazing views.
Halong is so wonderful when the sunset comes over this place. You can feel the romantic and poetic views while on the boat in the sea.
At night:
After dinner, you will relax or join to go catching squid – this is an optional tour.
Overnight on cruise in Halong Bay.
Day 5: Ha Long – Ha Noi (B, L)
Morning:
It is exciting to welcome an early morning in the tranquil atmosphere of Halong Bay.
If you like to train Tai Chi with the group, you will get up earlier.
Then, have breakfast, and the boat will move around the bay to visit the fishing village and pass plenty of beautiful islands.
You can take time to relax on the boat if you do not want to explore attractions outside the ship.
At noon, the boat will take you back to the boat station to end the cruise ship.
Afternoon:
After lunch, the car (without a guide) will pick you up to visit a few attractions in Halong Bay:
- Ha Long Park, with many attractive amusement parks, and the cost of tickets to the park is excluded.
- Dragon Park, with adventure games like a roller coaster and Ferris wheel.
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: The car with a driver will drive you back to Hanoi.
Check in the hotel and spend overnight in Hanoi City.
Day 6: Hanoi – Bai Dinh – Trang An (B, L)
Morning:
8:00 am, we will depart for Ninh Binh, another place of beautiful landscapes. From Hanoi to Ninh Binh is around two hours to drive.
To Ninh Binh, you visit Bai Dinh Pagoda, which has the tallest and heaviest bronze Buddha statue in Vietnam. You can see many large bronze statues of different feelings.
You return to the restaurant for lunch with the local food of goat meat.
Afternoon:
You continue to visit the Trang An tourist area and get on the boat to explore the wild beauty like “Ha Long Bay on land”.
You will see a lot of mountains and temples on both sides of the river of Trang An tourist area. This time is a good chance to take pictures, so prepare your camera full of battery.
Then, you get in the car back to Hanoi.
The 6-day-5-night tour from Hanoi will end. We hope we can travel with you to other destinations in Vietnam.
Inclusion:
Accommodations
+ 3 nights at the beautiful 4-star hotels in Hanoi and Sapa
+ Standard accommodation type: 2 adult guests/room. If one guest wants to use a single room, the surcharge will be applied.
+ One night on a 4-star cruise in Halong Bay
Transportation
New modern car/van with air-conditioner and safe belt flowing the itinerary
Guide
English-speaking guide to experience, unless days using the cruises as mentioned
Entrance fee
+ Tickets to visit the attractions in the itinerary
+ Entrance ticket and the boat trip at Ninh Binh
+ Admission ticket to explore Ham Rong mountains and Halong Bay
Meals
+ Breakfast at the hotel
+ 05 lunches and 01 dinner
Note: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance with Vietnamese standards is compulsory by the Gorvenment. But, this insurance travel has low quality and almost is not fixed for foreign tourists. Thus, you have to buy your own international insurance before traveling with us.
Additional services
A bottled water 0.5l / person / day
Exclusion:
Flights/ trains
Airfare, train, and car for traveling to the cities
Optional Activities
Optional activities are your own budget.
Additional services
* Personal expenses, extra food, self-ordered drinks during meals
* Transportation outside the program
* The cost of a single room
* Tips for the guide and driver
International travel insurance
International travel insurance is not included in the price. You have to have this insurance when traveling with us. When all guests own international travel insurance with international standards, it is much better to travel to Vietnam.