Vietnam Northern Loop 8 Days, 7 Nights

Arrival at Noi Bai International Airport, collect your luggage process through custom. Your private tour guide and driver will be waiting for you outside the arrival hall. It won’t be hard for you to spot your tour guide as he/she will be holding a sign with your name on. Transfer to your hotel and relax for the rest of today.

Overnight in Hanoi (Check in time is 14.00 – Early check in is upon availability)

The full day tour takes you around Hanoi’s highlights sites including the Ho Chi Minh Complex: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and his stilt house, Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda. You also have chance to visit historic University – The Temple of Literature, that dates back to the 11th century; learn about Buddhist practices in a serene lakeside pagoda. Visit the famous Ethnology Museum. Back to the Old Quarter to walk through the narrow streets that were famous for its specialized craft making guilds, the guild streets are named for their product or location and still bear such names nowadays.

At around 17.00, we start our excellent street food walking tour in old quarter of Hanoi along the perimeter of the local market where dozens of street hawkers sell a staggering variety of produce from live seafood to exotic fruits and spices. 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…

Walking through the maze of bustling streets that make up Hanoi’s Old Quarter, we tempt the famous dishes of Hanoi such as Bun Cha Hanoi , Banh Cuon at a local eatery. 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 stopis at a local draft beer restaurant. We sit down with the Hanoi locals and sample various meats, vegetable together with some glass of cold beer.

Your local guide will then take you to one of Hanoi’s best kept secrets to taste top ten street foods in Hanoi is Banh My Hanoi.

At the end of the tour, we will sample the famous Egg Coffee. This hard-to-find café is one of the few left in the narrow street inside the old quarter of Hanoi. Freetime afterwward.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Note:
– Tour is not suitable for Vegetarian.
– The tour program is flexible. Our guide would be more than happy to adjust the tour itinerary at your needs. You can skip one site or add another if you so wish.

Pick up at your hotel after breakfast, we say good bye to the bustling Hanoi and venture our way to the very Northern tip of Vietnam – Ha Giang. We stop en-route for photo shooting at times, when passing through many of the magnificent views along the way. Lunch will be served in a local restaurant and continue our drive further till Ha Giang arrival.

Check into your hotel and overnight in Ha Giang.

After breakfast you will depart drive towards Yen Minh for a visit to the remote hill tribe villages. On the way, we will see the huge green mountains with the roads hugging the curves and edges. Villages and houses high up amongst the side of the mountains. Tropical blue rivers flowing below…

We will continue our scenic journey toward Meo Vac. MeoVac is inhabited by different ethnic minorities including the H’mong, the King, Tay, Dzao…Most ethnic groups have maintained their culture untouched from the outside world.

On arrival, check in your hotel and relax at your own leisure.

Check out our hotel then having breakfast at a local restaurant before starting our trip to Dong Van. On the way, we will make our way through the well-known mountain pass of Ma Pi Leng. This scenic journey up through rugged outcrops to the beautiful town of Dong Van.

On arrival, we will check in our hotel and store our luggage before starting the trekking to the beautiful local villages and interact with local villages.

Return to your hotel after the excursion. Rest of day is free at your leisure.

After breakfast, we will check out Dong Van to visit the Sunday Dong Van Market, the biggest market place of the region. Afterward, we continue our way in the afternoon to Quan Ba where we stay overnight in a traditional wooden stilt-house and to experience local way of life. This afternoon, we will trek along the villages, meet, talk and chat with local people.

Overnight at the Dao Lodge. Lunch and Dinner is included on this day.

*** We will visit the market if we are there on the right day.

At 08:00, you will leave Hanoi for Halong Bay after 3.5 hours drive and board a boat, enjoying lunch while cruise through the bay. The magical bay is home to thousands of limestone islands rising from the waves like dragons’ teeth. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with opportunity to interact with fishermen who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. Back on board, you will enjoy cocktails or cooking classes while watching the sunset, before indulging in a lavish dinner onshore. Afterwards, you can choose to do anything from joining movie night, playing board games, or relaxing at the beauty spa before retiring for the night.

Overnight onboard with the cruise

*** Itinerary varies depending on which cruise you are going to take

Wake up on the bay to the sounds of waves, fresh air, and breeze welcoming the new day. After breakfast, visit a beautiful limestone grotto then walk back to the boat for a final glimpse of Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock. The boat arrives at the harbor by 11.30am and your driver is waiting to take youback to Hanoi.

Tonight, free at your own leisure in Hanoi.

Overnight in Hanoi

Free at your own leisure until our driver transfers you to the airport for your departure flight home.