Arriving at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. The afternoon will be at your own leisure and you’ll spend the night in Hanoi.

Hanoi for 2 nights

You’ll have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city on the back of a motorbike. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked and the museum dedicated to his memory. After that, you’ll visit the bustling Old Quarter with its eclectic mix of architectural styles - traditional ‘tube’ houses, religious buildings, colonial houses, vernacular dwellings and modern concrete edifices. The day also includes a ‘Street Life’ experience, also on the back of a motorbike. You’ll spend a couple of hours wandering around the back streets in and nearby the Old Quarter. A street food brunch is included – take your pick from traditional Hanoi Pho (beef noodle soup), Nom (green papaya salad with seasoned beef), Banh Goi (pillow-shaped rice pastry with minced pork and mushroom), Banh Cuon (hot rice paper with pork and fried onion) or Bun Cha (fresh noodle with grilled pork). If you’re hungry, try two or three varieties – they’re snacks rather than a meal. Read more

Hanoi for 2 nights

Around 08:00 AM, you’ll leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board the boat and discover some of the treasures scattered across the Bay of the Descending Dragon during the afternoon: fascinating caves, pristine beaches, picturesque floating villages, and fantastic rock formations rising up out of emerald waters. You will visit Sung Sot Cave - hiking up and down 600 steps to the magnificent limestone formations of the biggest and most marvelous cave in Halong Bay. While on board, you can take advantage of the cruise’s facilities and services. Join your chef’s cooking demonstration and try your skills in the art of traditional Vietnamese cooking. Then, you’ll enjoy the dinner with other passengers on cruise. Read more

Halong Bay for 1 night

You’ll wake in the fresh air of the bay with a Tai Chi session on the large sundeck (beginners welcome!). Coffee & tea with homemade cookies & biscuits will be served onboard. Spend the early morning relaxing while cruising Ha Long Bay or visit Titop Island. You can take part in an array of exciting activities: swimming and climbing to the top for breathtaking view of the bay. You will enjoy buffet breakfast while the cruise pass by other beautiful parts of the Bay , while cruising back to the main dock, and around noon you’ll leave for Hanoi. On the way back, you will visit Phu Lang, one of the most famous traditional pottery villages in Vietnam. Phu Lang ceramic products are high quality because they are dried in traditional kilns called Rong, which are specially constructed and use dry wood as fuel. Visitors to the village can enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and see the ceramic kilns like giant mushrooms along the dykes. You may even try to make ceramics yourself if time permits. You will arrive in Hanoi in the late afternoon and have time to relax and freshen up in a day-use room at a 3star hotel before transferring to the station to board the night train for Lao Cai. Read more

Overnight on train

You’ll arrive in the early morning, where you’ll be met and taken by car to visit a market frequented by ethnic minority peoples. After a picnic lunch, you’ll return to Lao Cai and continue your journey into the mountains to Sapa, a small town perched on the mountainside opposite Mt. Fan Si Pan, Vietnam’s highest peak. You’ll arrive with time to relax and stroll around the town. You’ll spend the night in a Sapa hotel with good mountain views. Although it’s quite a long drive, the landscape is attractive and the ethnic markets are a fascinating experience. Unlike those in the tourist areas, the markets that we choose are for not only for buying and selling, but are also meeting places for ethnic minority people to meet and exchange news. There will be plenty of colour and authentic costumes, but very little to buy as souvenirs unless you want to barter for a water buffalo or a sack of fertiliser! Read more

Sapa for 1 night

After breakfast, you will head off into the beautiful Hoang Lien National Park by car, along the road you have the chance to see big rice terraces and a hopefully the high tops of the mountain range. Soon your guide will introduce you to the biggest group of minorities in this area, the colorful Black H’mong people, famous for their indo colored cloths and silver necklace. The walk is on a good path and will take few hours, plenty of time to learn about history and traditional customs. You will then continue the transfer deeper into the valley and cross the beautiful Muong Bo River before reaching Thanh Phu village of Tay minority. Here you will see the big difference in culture as the group wears lighter colors of silk clothing. Your lunch will be served next to the rice fields in a local restaurant. After lunch the tour continues to the small village of My Son and an interesting afternoon walk. This remote tribe is the smallest minority group in Sapa area and home to Xa Pho people. In the afternoon you will arrive in the remote and quiet Red Dao village of Nam Cang. Walking along the small roads you will soon understand that this is “off the beaten trail”, people are looking happily. Finally you will cross a private bridge and check into your private room in the comfortable Nam Cang Riverside lodge. You can now explore the village or relax in the river or at the riverside veranda. Approx: 3 hours of easy walking. Read more

Nam Cang for 1 night

You will wake up in the sound of nature. The day starts with a nice breakfast served just few meters from the river. The morning is for relaxing at the lodge or visiting the surroundings. Nam Cang is a small village with a quite big school, which gathers the children from other nearby villages. Play with the cute and curious children; visit a silversmith; learn how to make the Red Dao traditional writing papers, try to test your embroidery skill, which the Red Dao women are famous for; or take a swim in the river. After saying goodbye to the friendly villagers, you have a transfer to Topas Ecolodge, where you will have lunch while enjoying amazing view of mountains and endless paddle rice terraces. The lunch expense is on your own and the restaurant offers an a la cart menu with wide choices. The walk after lunch is easy and no less interesting. You will visit the nearby Lech village, also habited by Red Dao people. Same as in Nam Cang, the women here wear some of the most colorful and diverse costumes of all Vietnam’s ethnic groups. You then walk back to Topas Ecolodge for lunch and transfer to Sapa town then to Lao Cai for the night train return to Hanoi. Read more

Overnight on train

You will arrive in Hanoi in the early morning and be transferred directly to the airport for your morning flight to Hue. Breakfast will be at your own arrangement at an airport restaurant (there are many restaurants at the airport). When you arrive in Hue, you’ll be met by our guide and driven to your hotel to leave your luggage (note: check-in time after 14.00, early check-in upon availability). After that, your guide will take you to visit the Imperial Citadel of Hue and the nearby Royal Antiquities Museum. After that, you will visit the colorful Dong Ba market where you can see a lot of ingredients for making Hue local foods and explore the business life of the local. Then you will be transferred to visit some of well-known street restaurants to enjoy a lot of Hue local foods, such as: Hue Pancake (banh khoai), Hue beef vermicelli soup (bun bo Hue), Filtered tapioca dumplings (banh bot loc), literally water fern cake (banh beo), steamed shrimp rice cake ( ban nam ) ... If you’re hungry, try two or three varieties – they’re snacks rather than a meal. You will spend the night in Hue. Read more

Hue for 2 nights

In the morning, your bicycles will be at your hotel ready for you to ride through Hue’s rural villages towards the Thanh Toan Bridge (roofed in Chinese style). Nearby, a local market will provide you with views of daily life and local products. You'll then return to Hue’s city centre with en-route visit the Ngoc Son Princess ‘garden house’. It has an attractive family altar and the owner is an expert on Hue’s culture and history – he will be pleased to explain the geomantic principles underpinning the building and garden’s construction. After lunch, your route will take you past the Imperial Citadel to visit some of the garden houses in Phu Mong Kim Long village, thence ride toward one of the handicraft villages in Hue’s hinterland that specialises in a single product range of traditional cakes - ‘banh it’ and ‘banh phu the’ before looping back to your hotel for overnight accommodation. Read more

Hue for 2 nights

In the mid-morning, your car will drive you to Danang. On the way, you'll cross the Hai Van mountain pass. The views from the top are excellent – you should be able to see Lang Co beach and village, and the lagoon far below, with Danang spread out before you to the south. Upon arrival in Hoi An, you’ll have a guided visit to the Ancient Town of Hoi An and spend the night in Hoi An. Read more

Hoi an for 3 nights

The morning will be free for strolling in the town, lazing on the beach, or whatever takes your fancy.

Hoi an for 3 nights

Around 8.00am, you’ll be driven to Cua Dai Beach where you’ll board a boat to the islands - the journey to the first site takes about an hour and ten minutes. Depths extend to 23 metres - coral is approximately two metres beneath the surface. The second site is close to cliffs. Later, you’ll head for a classic tropical beach for lunch under the coconut trees – fresh seafood caught, prepared and cooked by the crew (alternatives can be arranged if necessary). Your afternoon will be free to laze on the beach or explore the soft corals near the bay. At about 3.30 pm, you’ll clamber back on the boat to return to Hoi An and your hotel. Read more

Hoi an for 3 nights

You will be free at your own until you are picked up to airport for your departure flight.