10-Day Northern Vietnam Mountain Tour: Sapa, Ha Giang, Cao Bang & Ba Be Lake

Overnight: Silk Path Grand Resort & Spa Sapa, Sapa  |  Meals: Lunch and dinner on your own  |  Guide: Guide pickup

On arrival
Welcome to Vietnam. Your HYNA guide and driver wait in the arrival hall at Noi Bai International Airport with a name sign, and you set off straight for Sapa. The drive of about five and a half to six hours follows the expressway north-west past rice fields, mountain passes and small villages, as the land climbs towards the Hoang Lien Son range.

Evening
Settle into your hotel, then explore Sapa town at your own pace: stroll to the old Stone Church, browse the local market or simply breathe in the cool mountain air.

Overnight: Silk Path Grand Resort & Spa Sapa, Sapa  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, your guide meets you around 8:00 AM and walks with you to Sun Plaza station in the town centre.

The Muong Hoa Mountain Train carries you over the valley, then the cable car lifts you towards Fansipan, the “Roof of Indochina” at 3,143 metres. From the top station, climb the stone steps past the Great Buddha statue and mountain pagodas to the summit, where on a clear day the ridges of the Hoang Lien Son range roll away in every direction, and on other days the clouds sweep past close enough to touch.

Midday
A buffet lunch around 11:30 AM at the Fansipan restaurant warms you up before the ride back down to Sapa.

Afternoon
In the afternoon, walk down into Cat Cat, a Black H’Mong village at the foot of Fansipan. The path winds past wooden houses, terraced rice fields and handicraft workshops where indigo-dyed cloth hangs in deep blue folds, down to the rushing Cat Cat waterfall. Along the way, you learn how the community lives and works in these mountains. You are back at your hotel by about 4:30 PM.

Overnight: Local homestay, Ha Giang  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
Check out after breakfast and meet your guide and driver around 7:30 AM. Your first stop is Moana Sapa, one of the town’s most photographed spots, with its Bali-style gate, a giant hand sculpture and an infinity lake that seems to pour straight into the Hoang Lien Son mountains, quiet at this early hour. Then begin the long drive east to Ha Giang, about eight hours with stops.

Midday
Lunch around 12:30 PM is at a local restaurant in Bac Ha.

Afternoon
The afternoon road runs through Xin Man and Hoang Su Phi, one of the most remote corners of the north, where rice terraces are carved into the hillsides like giant staircases and villages appear only now and then between the folds of the mountains.

Overnight
You arrive in Ha Giang and check in at your local homestay around 6:00 PM.

Overnight: Local homestay, Ha Giang  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, your guide and driver meet you around 8:00 AM and head north on the Ha Giang Loop road.

It climbs the Bac Sum Pass to Quan Ba Heaven Gate, the traditional gateway to the Dong Van Karst Plateau, where the whole valley suddenly opens below you.

From the viewpoint, look down on the twin Fairy Mountains, two perfectly rounded hills rising from the rice fields of Quan Ba, while your guide tells the local legend behind them.

Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant in Quan Ba.

Afternoon
In the afternoon, the road continues through the pine forests of Yen Minh, where the air smells of resin, and past H’Mong and Dao villages clinging to the hillsides.

Overnight
You check in at your local homestay in Yen Minh by about 4:00 PM, with time to watch evening fall over the hills.

Overnight: Local homestay, Ha Giang  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, your guide and driver meet you around 8:00 AM and drive through Mau Due to Meo Vac, deep in the Dong Van Karst Plateau. The road winds past maize terraces and stone-walled H’Mong houses, and the mountains grow sharper and barer as you go.

Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant in Meo Vac.

Afternoon
In the early afternoon, head down to the Nho Que River and board a boat through the Tu San canyon, where the emerald water glides between sheer limestone cliffs and the sky shrinks to a narrow strip above.

Then climb up to the famous Ma Pi Leng Pass, a road cut into the cliffside high above the very canyon you have just sailed, and stop at the viewpoints to take it in: the river is now a thin green ribbon far below. The road runs on to Dong Van, a small town of old stone and tiled houses at the foot of the mountains.

Overnight
You check in at your local homestay in Dong Van by about 5:00 PM.

Overnight: Local stilt-house homestay, Bao Lac  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, your guide and driver meet you around 7:30 AM. In the quiet Sa Phin valley, visit the H’Mong King’s Palace, the stone and wood mansion of the Vuong family, built in the early 20th century with courtyards that blend Chinese and French influences.

Then stop for photos at the famous hairpin bends of Tham Ma Pass, the road coiling down the mountain below you, before turning back east through Dong Van to Meo Vac.

Midday
Lunch around 12:30 PM is at a local restaurant in Meo Vac.

Afternoon
The afternoon road follows the Nho Que River down towards the Gam River and into Cao Bang province, a drive of about three hours. Watch the landscape change from bare grey rock to greener valleys and Tay villages as you go.

Overnight
You reach Bao Lac by about 4:30 PM and settle into a Tay stilt-house homestay by the river.

Overnight: Saigon Ban Gioc Resort, Cao Bang  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, your guide and driver meet you around 7:30 AM for the mountain drive of about three hours east through Bao Lac and the valleys of Ha Quang to Pac Bo, close to the Chinese border. Here, in a small cave in a remote valley, Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in 1941 after thirty years abroad. Standing inside, you learn how the Viet Minh movement began in this quiet place, far from any city.

Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant near Pac Bo.

Afternoon
After lunch, walk along Lenin Stream, its water so clear and green that you can see every stone on the bed, flowing at the foot of Karl Marx Mountain; Ho Chi Minh gave both their names during his stay. Around 1:30 PM the road takes you through Tra Linh and Trung Khanh towards Ban Gioc, about three hours past rice valleys and limestone peaks.

Overnight
You check in at your resort near Ban Gioc Waterfall by about 4:30 PM.

Overnight: Local homestay, Ba Be Lake  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your resort around 7:30 AM, only a few minutes from the falls. You hear Ban Gioc before you see it: one of the largest waterfalls in Southeast Asia, where the Quay Son River tumbles over wide limestone terraces on the border with China. A bamboo raft takes you close enough to feel the spray.

A short drive away, walk through the lit chambers of Nguom Ngao Cave, filled with stalactites and rock formations.

Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant in Cao Bang city.

Afternoon
In the afternoon, the road crosses forested passes to Ba Be National Park, home to the largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam, its still water framed by limestone mountains.

Overnight
You check in at your local homestay by Ba Be Lake around 5:00 PM.

Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi  |  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own  |  Guide: Full day guide

Morning
After breakfast, walk down to the pier around 7:30 AM and board a local boat. In the soft morning light, forested limestone mountains are mirrored in the water. Glide past Widow Island, a tiny islet tied to the legend of how the lake was born, and stop at An Ma Temple on its small island in the middle of the lake. Back on shore, your guide and driver take you south towards Hanoi, about five to six hours through the hills of Bac Kan and the tea country of Thai Nguyen.

Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant on the way.

Afternoon
You check in at your hotel in Hanoi around 5:00 PM. The evening is free to enjoy the lights, food and bustle of the Old Quarter, a lively change after the stillness of the mountains.

Overnight: —  |  Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own  |  Guide: Guide dropoff

Morning
Enjoy a last breakfast at your hotel in Hanoi and a final coffee as the city wakes up.

Departure
Depending on your flight time, your guide accompanies you on the private transfer to Noi Bai International Airport for your flight home. Thank you for travelling with HYNA. We hope the mountains, rivers and villages of the far north stay with you long after you leave.