6-Day North Vietnam Journey: Hanoi, Sapa, Halong, Ninh Binh
Highlights:
When visiting North Vietnam, you can explore ancient cultural and historical works in Hanoi, visit the famous sights in Halong and Ninh Binh, and immerse yourself 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, has been voted one of the most beautiful temples in Vietnam and the world.
- Cat Cat Village is attractive, with simple wooden houses, small streams, colorful brocade panels, and the rustic life of ethnic people.
- Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam 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 is a beautiful, large-scale pagoda complex in Vietnam that possesses plenty of records.
Trang An is a scenic spot with majestic natural-cultural value. It contains many outstanding features , including 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: Sapa 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 unique architecture, resembling a lotus in the middle of the lake.
For lunch,we will taste Pho, a famous Vietnamese noodle soup.
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 their educational spirit and encourage the students to study harder.
Next, you visit Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi and stop at Ngoc Son Temple, which has beautiful lakeside scenery.
You can return to the hotel to rest, have dinner alone, and walk around the Hanoi Old Quarter at night.
You can enjoy the water puppet show, a traditional art performance originating from agricultural activities in North Vietnam.
Depending on the week's date, we will visit the Museum of Ethnology or 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 Sapa, a lovely city in the mountains of Northwest Vietnam.
On the way, you will see beautiful scenery. We reach Sapa around 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
We have lunch and check-in at the hotel for a short break.
Afternoon:
We start a journey to discover Ham Rong, with its magnificent landscape. You will visit the orchid garden, which has various types in different colors.
Passing Troi gate 1 &2, you will reach the highest place of Ham Rong. Cloud Yard is the intersection of heaven and earth, where you can see a panoramic view of Sapa.
Then, return to the hotel to rest and have dinner. At night, you are free to explore Sapa town.
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 the Hmong people, and learn about the unique culture and customs of the local people.
Then, we will come back to Sapa to have lunch.
Afternoon:
You are free to go shopping in the Sapa market.
After that, the car will pick you up and take you back to Hanoi. We will then get to the hotel in the city center.
We will choose a hotel in the Old Quarter. If no rooms are available, we will book a beautiful hotel outside the Old City.
You will rest and explore Hanoi at night by yourself.
Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.
Day 4: Hanoi – Ha Long (B, L, D)
Morning:
After breakfast, check out of the hotel. The driver (without a guide) will pick you up and drive to Ha Long Bay. This bay has 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 vast 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 us in catching squid – this tour is optional.
Overnight on a 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.
If you do not want to explore attractions outside the ship, you can relax on the boat.
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 has many attractive amusement parks, and the cost of tickets to the park is excluded.
- Dragon Park has adventure games like roller coasters 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:
At 8:00 am, we will depart for Ninh Binh, another place with beautiful landscapes in Northern Vietnam. The drive from Hanoi to Ninh Binh takes around two hours.
To Ninh Binh, you visit Bai Dinh Pagoda, which has the tallest and heaviest bronze Buddha statue in Vietnam. There are also many large bronze statues of different feelings.
You return to a restaurant for lunch with goat meat, the local food.
Afternoon:
You continue to visit the Trang An tourist area and get on a boat to explore the wild beauty of “Ha Long Bay on land.”
There are many mountains and temples on both sides of the river in the Trang An tourist area. This is a good time to take pictures, so prepare your camera with a full battery.
Then, you get in the car and go back to Hanoi.
Another option is to stay longer in Ninh Binh to explore more beautiful landscapes. This means we can be flexible on the finish place, either Hanoi or Ninh Binh. However, please let us know your choice when booking.
The 6-day-5-night tour from Hanoi will end. We hope to 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. The surcharge will be applied if one guest wants to use a single room.
+ One night on a 4-star cruise in Halong Bay
Transportation:
New modern car/van with air-conditioner and safe belt flowing the itinerary.
Guiding:
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:
The government makes travel insurance with Vietnamese standards compulsory. However, this insurance is of low quality and almost not fixed for foreign tourists. Thus, you must buy 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 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.