Day 1 : Hanoi arrival
Arrival at Hanoi airport. Welcome by the driver of Vietnam Evasion, then transfer to the hotel.
The rest of the day is free for rest and personal discovery at your own pace.
Our hotel is located in the center of the old quarter which allows us to stroll easily for a complete change of scenery by immersing ourselves in the lively and populous streets.
Night at hotel
Day 2 : Hanoi (B)
The whole day is dedicated to the visit of Hanoi, a fascinating city with many facets.
We visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where the father of the nation rests and the One Pillar Pagoda.
Let's continue by the Temple of Literature, the first national university, where we discover the Mandarin competition and Confucianism.
Then, the Ethnography Museum (closed every Monday) which presents the traditions, cultures and traditional dress of the 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam. This visit gives us a general overview of the peoples in Vietnam before seeing them in reality in the mountains.
A walk in the streets of old Hanoi lined with small typical houses with lively activities that allows to see the daily life of the locals.
In the evening, attend the water puppet show, a typical art born in the 11th century in the Red River Delta.
Night at hotel
Day 3 : Hanoi – Nghia Lo (B, D)
Morning transfer to Nghia Lo to start our authentic journey in the North outside the traditional circuits to discover the splendid natural landscapes and meet the ethnic minorities in the remote villages far from the tourist crowd.
Stop en route to visit the tea fields.
Continuation of the trip by car to reach the Muong Lo basin where the town of Nghia Lo is located. Muong Lo is the second largest rice granary in the northwest and the capital of the Thai people.
A few stops are planned to see the daily life of the locals.
Here, for 700 years, they have been growing flooded rice and building their traditional houses out of wood and bamboo.
A bike ride through the villages reveals the first insights into the culture and daily life of the Thai people.
5h30 drive
Night at homestay
Day 4 : Nghia Lo – Tu Le – Mu Cang Chai (B)
Departure for Mu Cang Chai through spectacular mountain scenery, sumptuous rice terraces. The rice fields here are the most beautiful in the country.
This road is nicknamed as "photographers road".
Several stops to take pictures and meet local people in Tu Le, La Pan Tan and Che Cu Nha.
Superb view and splendid landscape
Possibility to meet Mong women working with linen on their traditional looms.
Still by car, we continue along the mountain range, going from surprise to surprise.
2 hours of walking to discover the landscapes and the life of the local people.
We cross rice fields to reach the isolated villages.
Night in bungalow
Day 5 : Mu Cang Chai – Sa Pa (B, L)
After breakfast, a rather steep climb awaits us in the Hoang Lien Son range composed of the highest mountains in Indochina.
Meeting with many Daos, Thais and Mongs peasants, always in traditional costumes. The road winds up to the highest pass of Vietnam (2047 m).
Stop at the pass to enjoy the coolness and admire the Fan Si Pan mountain (3143 m), roof of Indochina.
Arrival in Sa Pa around noon.
Perched at an altitude of 1600 m, near the Sino-Vietnamese border, Sa Pa is the starting point for various excursions in the middle of nature. Overlooking huge rice terraces and vast green valleys, this former colonial highland resort hosts an important market that attracts thousands of Black Hmong and Red Dzao mountain people every morning.
Visit the multi-ethnic market of Sa Pa.
Afternoon :
We visit the village Y Linh Ho, far from mass tourism, consists of mountains, hills, covered with greenery including rice terraces and vast valleys, dotted with fields and hamlets, populated by the Black Mong minorities.
The driver will look for us at the end of the route for the return to Sa Pa.
4h of road
Night at hotel
Day 6 : Sa Pa – Bac Ha (B, D)
Morning, visit of the Ham Rong public garden.
Afternoon, transfer to Bac Ha.
Stop en route to walk in the typical Ma Tra village (1h30) with black Mong people. Walk through the beautiful rice terraces with wooden houses where the locals raise buffalos, black pigs, chickens..., meet the local people.
2h30 drive
Night at homestay
Day 7 : Bac Ha (B, D)
Visit a colorful weekly market of the region where the different tribes of the surrounding mountains gather. Each ethnic minority wears its own traditional costumes and speaks its own language. The atmosphere is particularly picturesque: the mountain people in their colorful traditional clothes go to the market with their horses, agricultural products and children. These ethnic minorities coming from far away hamlets sell animals (buffaloes, oxen, pigs, dogs, horses...), fruits, vegetables, forest products, basketry objects, clothes... The market is not only a place of commercial exchanges but also a place of reunion and meetings. An authentic place where the locals still preserve their culture and traditions.
Back to Bac Ha for a walking tour to discover the splendid natural landscapes, the culture and the daily life of several tribes of the region. The hike starts on a nice path through a picturesque valley. The green vegetable gardens, corn fields, rice terraces unfold peacefully.
The easy hike continues in the middle of the mountains. We will pass over hills where green tea, corn and plum trees grow. You will enjoy the quietness of this remote area far from mass tourism.
Night at homestay
Day 8 : Bac Ha – Hanoi (B)
Then back to Hanoi, we leave the mountains with regrets.
This trip allows you to observe the villages, the Vietnamese countryside and the beautiful landscapes.
6 drive
Night at hotel
Day 9 : Hanoi – Ninh Binh (B)
Transfer to Ninh Binh (Halong Bay)
Then visit Dinh and Le temples at the ancient capital Hoa Lu
Visit of the great Bai Dinh pagoda with its recognized records.
2h drive
Night at hotel
Day 10 : Ninh Binh (B, L)
In the morning, we embark on a small boat with oars (1h30 of boat) to discover the caves of Tam Coc. We pass under the successive tunnels carved by the passage of water. Fairy-like atmosphere in the middle of the peaks and limestone sugar loaf, a natural landscape made of karst mountains overhanging an exceptional aquatic landscape.
Transfer to visit the stone cathedral of Phat Diem (30 km from Tam Coc). The architectural complex of Phat Diem is one of the most original centers of Catholicism in Vietnam with a dozen stone and wooden structures built in a style combining the architecture of Buddhist pagodas and Catholic churches.
Return to Tam Coc
Then bike ride along the small local road through villages, between rice fields and a limestone forest around Tam Coc to Hai Nham, Thung Nham and then Thai Vi temple.
Night at hotel
Day 11 : Ninh Binh – Halong Bay (B, L, D)
Departure in the morning for Halong Bay.
Arrival around 12:30 pm, boarding on a comfortable traditional junk for an extraodinary excursion to the splendid Halong Bay. Then the junk continues to Bai Tu Long Bay, less touristic and wilder.
Lunch is served on board while the junk sails along the turquoise water in the paradisiacal setting with its 1969 islands and islets, "sugar loafs and peaks" of all shapes and sizes emerging from the emerald water surface in an area of 1553 km².
During the cruise, we make a stop to take a sampan ride around a floating fishing village.
In the late afternoon, the boat drops anchor to spend the night in the bay. It is then possible to take a bath in the middle of the sea or to rest on the upper deck.
Dinner is taken on the junk in the middle of the idyllic landscape.
4h drive
Night on board a junk
Day 12 : Halong Bay – Hanoi – Night train to Hue (B, L)
Continuation of the cruise in the middle of thousands of karst mountains in a paradisiacal setting.
Visit of a cave from where we have a magnificent view.
And then the junk starts to sail slowly towards the pier. The return cruise allows us to discover other corners of the bay.
Early lunch in the form of brunch.
At the end of the morning, disembarkation, transfer to the Hanoi train station
3h30 drive
Night on board the train in soft sleeper (4 persons/cabin)
Day 13 : Hue (B, L)
Arrival in Hue in the morning, welcome by the guide and the driver at the station
Day of discovery of Hue, ancient capital of Vietnam where the Nguyen dynasty reigned from 1802 to 1945.
Its monuments were recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1993.
Visit of the Imperial Citadel which was the witness of the great historical events of the country, the reflection of the imperial life. The architectural complex we visit: South Gate, Palace of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden Purple City, The Mieu Temple, 9 dynastic urns…
Visit of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Around noon, we propose you to taste Hue's specialties: banh it, banh bao, banh nam, chao tom, bot loc... in a family restaurant and frequented by the locals.
Then the Nam Giao mound where the sovereigns came to make sacrifice to the Heaven and the Earth
Visit of a small conical hat factory.
And then, visit the mausoleum of King Tu Duc, with traditional style in harmony with nature, the 2nd residence of the king and the mausoleum of King Minh Mang, one of the most surprising architectural constructions of the imperial tombs.
Night at hotel
Day 14 : Hue – Hoi An beach (B)
Morning transfer to Hoi An by our driver
Rest of the time free for your personal discoveries and lazing on the beach at your own pace.
At nightfall, with the lanterns illuminated, Hoi An offers a different face that should certainly not be missed.
So let's go for dinner and then walk around the old town. The streets are illuminated by thousands of lanterns hanging on the windows and trees. The river that runs along the city is covered with floating candles and the Japanese bridge is also surrounded by bright colors. We are like in another world.
3h30 drive
Night at hotel
Day 15 : Hoi An beach (B)
Free day for your personal discoveries and lazing on the beach at your own pace.
Night at hotel
Day 16 : Hoi An beach – Da Nang – Flight to Hanoi (B)
Free time until transfer to Da Nang airport, flight to Hanoi, welcome by our driver at your arrival, transfer to the hotel.
Night at hotel
Day 17 : Hanoi – Return Flight (B)
Free time until transfer to Hanoi airport for your return flight.
