Northern Vietnam: Hanoi, Sapa, Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Hanoi

   Noi Bai International Airport to the Old Quarter

   • Welcome street food dinner
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 1

   Your trip starts at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN), about 45 minutes north of the centre, where we meet you and drive you to your hotel near the Old Quarter. Rest after the flight. In the early evening you meet your See Sight Tours guide and the rest of the group, at most 12 of you, for a short briefing on the week ahead, including what to pack for the cooler mountain air in Sapa. Then we walk out together for a street food dinner in the lanes around Hoan Kiem Lake: a bowl of pho or bun cha, crisp banh mi, fresh spring rolls and, for anyone with room left, an egg coffee, the whipped yolk and coffee drink Hanoi is known for. Your guide shows you how to order, what to try first and how to cross a road full of scooters at a steady walk. If your flight lands too late for dinner, we meet you at breakfast instead.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Street food dinner in the Old Quarter

   Temps libre : Afternoon free to rest before the welcome dinner

2. Jour 2 : Hanoi

   Ba Dinh Square, the Temple of Literature and Hoa Lo Prison

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 2

   If you are awake early, your guide walks the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake at first light, when it fills with people doing tai chi, dancing and stretching before work. After breakfast we go to Ba Dinh Square early, before the queues, to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, his stilt house and the small One Pillar Pagoda. The mausoleum closes on Mondays and Fridays and for maintenance for part of each year, and on those days we see it from the square. Next is the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius and later home to the Imperial Academy, with its courtyards, gates and stone stelae carrying the names of scholars who passed the royal exams. Lunch together at a local restaurant, then an hour at Hoa Lo Prison, built by the French in the 1890s and later known to American prisoners of war as the Hanoi Hilton. The afternoon is free. In the evening we have seats at a water puppet show near the lake.

   Compris

   • Dawn walk at Hoan Kiem Lake with your guide (optional, early)
   • Ba Dinh Square, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda
   • Temple of Literature
   • Hoa Lo Prison
   • Water puppet show

   Temps libre : Mid-afternoon to early evening free

   

3. Jour 3 : Up to Sapa

   Hanoi to Sapa by the Noi Bai to Lao Cai expressway

   • Environ 5.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Sapa
   Détail du jour 3

   This is the longest drive of the trip, about five and a half hours, one of only two days we break the four-hour rule, today and again on day 5. There are no scheduled flights to the Sapa area, and the alternative is an overnight sleeper train to Lao Cai, which many travellers sleep badly on, so we drive in daylight in our own vehicle. We leave after breakfast at about 8 am on the expressway up the Red River valley, stop for coffee and a stretch at about the halfway point, and have a sit-down lunch in Lao Cai on the Chinese border before the last hour of mountain road to Sapa. The town sits at about 1,500 m, and the air is noticeably cooler. After check-in the late afternoon is yours. Anyone who wants the summit can ride the cable car up Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam at a little over 3,100 m. Dinner together tonight, with mountain dishes such as grilled meats and hot pot.

   Compris

   • Transport from Hanoi to Sapa with your guide
   • Coffee stop and sit-down lunch on the way

   Activités en option

   • Fansipan cable car to the summit. Afternoon, weather permitting; the price is indicative.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free

   Activité : About 5.5 hours of driving with two breaks; the expressway does most of it, then about an hour of mountain road.

4. Jour 4 : The Muong Hoa valley on foot

   Sapa to Lao Chai and Ta Van, then back to Sapa or a homestay

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Sapa
   Détail du jour 4

   Today is the reason to come north. After breakfast the vehicle takes us a short way out of town to the head of the Muong Hoa valley, and from there we walk with a local guide from the valley's own communities. The route runs mostly downhill on footpaths, field banks and village lanes, through the terraced rice fields of Lao Chai, home to Black Hmong families, to Ta Van, a Giay village by the river, about 9 km in 3 to 4 hours with plenty of stops. The terraces are planted in early summer, green in July and August and gold from about mid-September to early October, before the harvest. Lunch is at a family-run restaurant in Ta Van. The vehicle brings us back to Sapa for a free afternoon and evening. If you choose the homestay, you stay on in Ta Van instead, with dinner cooked by your hosts and an evening in the village.

   Compris

   • Guided walk in the Muong Hoa valley from Lao Chai to Ta Van with a local guide
   • Lunch in Ta Van
   • Transport to the trailhead and back

   Activités en option

   • Night in a family homestay in Ta Van instead of the hotel. Dinner with your hosts is included; shared bathroom and simple bedding; ask when booking.

   Option plus facile : A shorter walk of about 4 km on the flattest section, with the vehicle meeting you in Lao Chai.

   Option plus active : A longer route of about 13 km with steeper climbs, by Y Linh Ho and down to Lao Chai, for experienced walkers.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Paths can be muddy and slippery after rain; walking shoes with good grip are essential.

5. Jour 5 : Back to Hanoi

   Sapa to Hanoi, with a free evening in the Old Quarter

   • Environ 5.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 5

   A slower start. If you would like one more look at the mountains, your guide walks to the lake and the market in the centre of Sapa with anyone who is up early; homestay guests are collected from Ta Van after breakfast. We leave Sapa at about 9:30 am and drive back down to Lao Cai and along the expressway to Hanoi, about five and a half hours of driving again, broken by a sit-down lunch and a coffee stop. It is the second of the two long days, and it is there for the same reason: by road in daylight is the most comfortable way between Sapa and Hanoi. We arrive at the hotel in the Old Quarter in the late afternoon. The evening is free. Your guide can point you to a bia hoi corner for a glass of fresh draught beer, a night market or a quiet restaurant, and you can also spend the time packing light for the next two nights, as large bags can stay in the vehicle.

   Compris

   • Transport from Sapa to Hanoi with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch on the way

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 5.5 hours of driving with two breaks.

6. Jour 6 : Ninh Binh: Trang An and Tam Coc

   Hanoi to Trang An, Hoa Lu and Tam Coc

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ninh Binh
   Détail du jour 6

   We leave Hanoi at about 7 am and drive two hours south to Ninh Binh, the country of limestone towers and rice fields often called Ha Long Bay on land. The early start puts us on the water at Trang An before the late-morning crowds. Trang An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2014 for its karst landscape and the traces of people who lived in its caves thousands of years ago. A local rower takes you along the river and through low caves cut through the limestone, with stops at small temples on the banks, for about two and a half hours. Lunch is nearby, then a short visit to Hoa Lu, Vietnam's capital in the 10th century, where temples honour the Dinh and Le kings. Check in near Tam Coc and rest through the hottest hours. In the late afternoon, when the light softens, cycle the flat lanes between the paddies and villages with your guide. Dinner together near the hotel.

   Compris

   • Transport from Hanoi to Ninh Binh with your guide
   • Trang An rowing boat trip on an early boat
   • Hoa Lu ancient capital temples
   • Late afternoon bicycle ride around Tam Coc

   Option plus facile : Skip the bicycle ride and see the villages from the vehicle with your guide.

   Option plus active : Ride a longer loop of about 15 km through the valleys behind Tam Coc.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon free to rest

   Activité : The bicycle ride is on flat village lanes.

   

7. Jour 7 : Mua Cave at first light, then the bay

   Ninh Binh to the harbour, then a night on Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ha Long Bay
   Détail du jour 7

   An early start for the best light of the day. We are at Mua Cave as it opens, before the heat and the coaches, and climb about 500 stone steps to the stone dragon on the ridge, with the view over the rice fields and the river winding through Tam Coc. Back for breakfast, then we drive east to the coast, about three and a half hours with a coffee stop, and board our overnight boat around midday. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of close to 2,000 limestone islands and islets in the Gulf of Tonkin, and since 2023 the listing also covers the Cat Ba archipelago and Lan Ha Bay to its south. We choose a boat route in quieter water, which often means Lan Ha Bay. Lunch is on board, then the afternoon brings kayaking between the karsts, a swim when the weather is warm, and a cave or a floating fishing area, depending on the route. Stay on deck for sunset before dinner on board.

   Compris

   • Mua Cave viewpoint at opening time
   • Transport from Ninh Binh to the harbour with your guide
   • Overnight boat in Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay in a private cabin with its own bathroom
   • Kayaking among the islands, weather permitting
   • Cave or floating fishing area visit, depending on the boat route

   Option plus facile : Wait at the foot of Mua Cave, or climb only to the first viewpoint, and stay on deck instead of kayaking.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon on deck

   Activité : About 500 steep stone steps at Mua Cave, with rails. Kayaking depends on the weather and sea state. Boarding is around midday; the exact time is confirmed with the boat operator before departure.

   

8. Jour 8 : Sunrise on the bay, back to Hanoi

   The bay at dawn, then the harbour to Hanoi or Noi Bai airport

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   Set an alarm for sunrise. The first hour of the day is the quietest on the bay, often still and misty in the cooler months. After coffee on deck there is a last cruise through the islands, and brunch is served on board before the boat returns to the harbour in the late morning. We drive back to Hanoi on the expressway, about three hours with a break, and arrive in the mid-afternoon. We drop you at your hotel in the Old Quarter, or at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) if you are flying out today; please book flights that leave after about 5:30 pm. Anyone who is staying on can ask us for an extra night in Hanoi before or after the trip, and your guide has suggestions for a last evening in the city, from a final bowl of bun cha to a walk round the lake as the lights come on.

   Compris

   • Sunrise and a last cruise on the bay
   • Brunch on board
   • Transport to Hanoi or to Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)

   Activité : Book flights leaving Hanoi after about 5:30 pm.

   

Faune et météo : September to November brings clear, mild days across the north, and the Sapa rice terraces turn gold from about mid-September to early October before the harvest. March to May is also pleasant, with the terraces flooded and newly planted by May. June to August is hot and wet in Hanoi and green in Sapa, with heavy showers. December to February is cool in Hanoi, cold and often foggy in Sapa, and misty on the bay. Storms can stop Ha Long and Lan Ha cruises, mostly from July to October.

• Hanoi2 nuits
• Sapa2 nuits
• Hanoi1 nuit
• Ninh Binh1 nuit
• Ha Long Bay1 nuit