Language
Out ofHà Nội
What’s actually there, when to go, and how many days each trip really needs. Dates and prices: ask our staff.
How many days have you got?
Tap a number and we’ll light up the trips that fit.
One day: Ninh Bình by rowing boat, or a day on Hạ Long Bay. Back in Hà Nội by evening.
Two days: a night on a Hạ Long cruise, a night in Tam Cốc, a Sa Pa trek with a homestay, or Bản Giốc with night buses both ways.
Three days: Sa Pa without rushing, Cao Bằng and Bản Giốc waterfall, or the short Hà Giang loop.
Four days or more: the full Hà Giang loop, the trip guests still talk about years later. Or Cao Bằng with a night at Ba Bể lake.
Hà Giang loop
About 350 km of mountain road across the Đồng Văn karst plateau, right up against the Chinese border. You ride on the back of a bike with a local easy rider while grey limestone peaks crowd the road, corn grows in pockets of soil between the rocks and H’Mông kids wave from doorways. Then the road drops away into the Nho Quế canyon. Nights are homestay dinners with your riders and the group, usually with a round of corn wine.
What’s there
Quản Bạ Heaven Gate
Your first big view of the plateau, with the two rounded Fairy Twin Mountains in the valley below.
Yên Minh pine forest
A cool, green stretch of pines between all the bare rock.
Thẩm Mã slope
Switchbacks zig-zagging up a mountainside. The classic photo stop.
Vương family palace
The stone-and-wood mansion of the H’Mông “king”, built in the early 1900s.
Lũng Cú flag tower
A huge flag near Vietnam’s northernmost point. In Oct–Nov the fields around it turn pink with buckwheat flowers.
Đồng Văn old quarter
Old tile-roofed houses under the cliffs. Busiest and most colourful on Sunday market day.
Mã Pí Lèng pass + Nho Quế river
A road cut into the cliff above a jade-green river. Most loops add a boat ride through Tu Sản canyon.
Du Già
A quiet valley village with a waterfall for a swim on the way back.
Day by day
- The night beforeSleeper bus from Hà Nội around 9–10 pm. You arrive in Hà Giang town before sunrise and rest at the tour base.
- Day 1Meet your easy rider, safety briefing, then Quản Bạ Heaven Gate and the Yên Minh pine forest. Homestay.
- Day 2Thẩm Mã slope, Lũng Cẩm village, the Vương palace and Lũng Cú flag tower. Evening in Đồng Văn.
- Day 3Mã Pí Lèng pass, a boat on the Nho Quế river, Mèo Vạc, then the long, beautiful road to Du Già.
- Day 4Back to Hà Giang town through weaving villages, then the bus to Hà Nội, home late at night.
Short on time?
The 3-day loop works, but the riding days get long and Du Già usually drops off. Skip anything shorter: it’s mostly time in the saddle.
One more day?
Five days means shorter rides, a market day in Đồng Văn or Mèo Vạc, and more time at Du Già.
Pack
Sa Pa
A mountain town at about 1,500 m, high above the Mường Hoa valley. Rice terraces step down every slope and Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina, disappears into the clouds overhead. You come here to walk: village to village through terraces and bamboo, past buffalo in the paddies and H’Mông and Red Dao women in indigo. The town is busy. The valley below it is the point.
What’s there
Mường Hoa valley
The main trekking valley, terraces on both sides of the river all the way down.
Ý Linh Hồ
Where the classic trek starts. A ridge path with the best terrace views of the day.
Lao Chải + Tả Van
A Black H’Mông village, then a Giáy village full of homestays. This is where you sleep.
Bamboo forest + waterfalls
The usual second-day walk past Tả Van, shady and green.
Tả Phìn
A Red Dao village known for its herbal baths. Quieter than the main trail.
Fansipan
Cable car and steps to the roof of Indochina. On a clear morning you see the whole range.
Cát Cát village
Close to town, with a waterfall and weaving. Easy, and busy.
Day by day
- Day 1Morning bus up, or the night bus the evening before. Trek Ý Linh Hồ → Lao Chải → Tả Van, about 12 km. Homestay dinner.
- Day 2Walk through bamboo forest and past waterfalls, lunch, back in Sa Pa mid-afternoon.
- Day 3Fansipan in the morning before the clouds build, Sa Pa town in the afternoon, bus back to Hà Nội.
Short on time?
Two days with one homestay night still gives you the classic trek. Fansipan doesn’t fit in that version.
One more day?
Take a longer trek into quieter valleys, or keep a spare morning in case Fansipan is in the clouds.
Pack
Hạ Long Bay
Close to two thousand limestone islands rising straight out of green water, and the photos don’t do it justice. The day boats head back to port in the afternoon. Stay out overnight and you get what comes after: kayaking between the islands at sunset, a quiet deck, and mist on the water when you wake up. Lan Hạ Bay, next door, has the same scenery with fewer boats and small beaches.
What’s there
Surprise Cave (Hang Sửng Sốt)
The bay’s biggest cave, huge chambers on Bồ Hòn island.
Ti Tốp island
Climb the steps for the classic panorama, then swim at the beach below.
Hang Luồn
Kayak or bamboo boat through a low tunnel into a lagoon ringed by cliffs.
Fighting Cocks islet
Two rocks facing each other: the bay’s most famous outline.
Sunset on deck
The day boats are gone and the islands turn into silhouettes.
Lan Hạ Bay
Quieter water next to Cát Bà island. The best kayaking.
Day by day
- Day 1Pick-up around 7–8 am, about 2.5–3 h by expressway, lunch on board, a cave or kayaking, a swim, sunset on deck. Night on the boat.
- Day 2Sunrise tai chi or coffee, one more cave or village, brunch while cruising back. In Hà Nội around 4–5 pm.
Short on time?
A day trip shows you the scenery and gets you back the same night. It’s a long day, most of it on the road there and back.
One more day?
Three days takes you further from the other boats, into Lan Hạ or Bái Tử Long, with more kayaking and a slower pace.
Pack
Ninh Bình
“Hạ Long Bay on land”: limestone towers standing in rice paddies instead of the sea. Rowers take you down slow rivers, under cave roofs low enough to duck and past temples you can only reach by water. On land it’s flat and perfect for bikes, past lotus ponds and paddies to the foot of Hang Múa and its 500 steps.
What’s there
Tràng An
About 3 hours by rowing boat through caves and past riverside temples. UNESCO-listed.
Tam Cốc
A shorter boat ride through three caves with rice fields on both banks. Some rowers paddle with their feet.
Hang Múa
About 500 stone steps to a dragon on the peak and the view everyone has seen online.
Bích Động pagoda
A three-level pagoda built into a cliff, an easy bike ride from Tam Cốc.
Hoa Lư ancient capital
Temples of the 10th-century kings, a short stop on the way.
Bái Đính pagoda
A vast temple complex with bronze Buddhas and a long hall of statues.
Thung Nham bird park
Thousands of birds come home to roost around 5 pm.
Day by day
- Day 1Pick-up around 7–8 am, Hoa Lư, the Tràng An boat, lunch, check in at Tam Cốc, Hang Múa for sunset. Try the local goat with crispy rice.
- Day 2An early Tam Cốc boat before the crowds, cycle to Bích Động and through the paddies, back in Hà Nội by evening.
Short on time?
One day covers a boat ride, Hang Múa and a pagoda, and you sleep in Hà Nội. Easy to fit anywhere in your trip.
One more day?
Add the quiet Vân Long wetland, the bird park at dusk and slow cycling. The trip stops feeling like a checklist.
Pack
Cao Bằng
Green where Hà Giang is grey: jade rivers, rolling karst hills, Tày and Nùng villages and far fewer tourists. The star is Bản Giốc, a waterfall that drops in tiers across the whole width of a border river, with bamboo rafts that take you close enough to feel the spray. Around it: caves, mountain passes, and a mountain with a hole straight through it.
What’s there
Bản Giốc waterfall
About 300 m wide, in tiers, on the border river. A bamboo raft takes you to the foot of the falls.
Ngườm Ngao cave
A big limestone cave near the falls, with lit walkways.
Mắt Thần mountain
A mountain with a huge natural hole near the top, framed by rice fields.
Mã Phục pass
Switchbacks with views over the valley on the way to the falls.
Khuổi Ky stone village
A Tày village of stone stilt houses, about 400 years old.
Thang Hen lakes
A chain of jade-green mountain lakes linked underground.
Pác Bó
Hồ Chí Minh’s 1941 hideout, by a stream so clear it looks dyed.
Day by day
- The night beforeSleeper bus from Hà Nội around 9–10 pm, into Cao Bằng town at dawn. Breakfast.
- Day 1Mã Phục pass, Thang Hen lakes, Mắt Thần mountain, Khuổi Ky stone village. Homestay near the falls.
- Day 2Bản Giốc in the morning by bamboo raft, Ngườm Ngao cave, Pác Bó.
- Day 3Back to Hà Nội in daylight, or take the night bus on day 2 and save a day.
Short on time?
Two days with night buses both ways works. You see Bản Giốc and the cave, and not much else.
One more day?
Add Ba Bể lake: a boat on Vietnam’s biggest natural freshwater lake, a cave you float through and a night in a stilt house.