This trip offers many marvelous cultural and natural sites in North Vietnam.

ITINERARY

Day 1: HANOI 
AM: Arrival in Hanoi by plane, airport pick-up

City tour includes visits to HCM area, HCM Mausoleum (outside only), the Presidential Palace, the house on stilts, the One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, a fascinating trishaw ride and walk through the busy interesting Old Quarter of Hanoi.
The day ends with a very interesting water puppet performance.

Check in a hotel and free time on your own 

Day 2: HANOI - PHAT DIEM CHURCH - HOA LU TEMPLES - THIEN HA CAVES (B)
Transfer to Ninh binh.

Visit the stone church of Phat Diem, then visit Hoa Lu, the former capital before Hanoi with beautiful ancient temples dated from the 11th century.

Drive on to Son Ha village where you can enjoy walking in the vilalge to see how local people live, enjoy a breath-taking boat trip through the beautiful peaceful countryise and visit the Thien Ha caves.

Afternoon drive back to Hanoi.

Day 3: HANOI - HALONG BAY - OVERNIGHT ON A CRUISE (B)
Morning transfer to Halong Bay, a World Natural Heritage site with thousands of islands of different shapes and sizes.

Upon arrival, check in aboard a sharing junk and start cruising.

Enjoy fabulous seafood, stunning sceneries, and water activities: cooking, swimming, 1 hour kayaking (excluded), and fishing.

Overnight aboard

Day 4: HALONG - HANOI - SAPA (B) (Train)

Guests can try the Taichi session on the sundeck at the break of dawn on Halong Bay

Morning continue the cruise along simply gorgeous sceneries including a very delicious lunch on board / at local restaurant

Transfer back to Hanoi

Arrive in Hanoi, drop off at the hotel (no rooms reserved)

Free time on your own for shopping and relaxation in the Old Quarter

Evening transfer to the Hanoi train station to take a night train to Lao Cai.

Overnight on the train - sharing 4 berths/cabin 

Day 5: LAO CAI - HILL TRIBE MARKET - SAPA (B)
Early arrival at Lao cai railway station, have breakfast at a local restaurant and drive up the mountainous areas to visit a colourful market of hill tribes on a certain date (Sunday: Bac Ha market, Muong Khuong market, Tuesday: Coc Ly market. Wednesdday: Cao Son market, Saturday: Can Cau market.)
Afternoon drive to Sapa

Check in a hotel and relax on your own

Day 6: TREKKING AROUND SAPA (B) 
Morning transfer to a point where you will start an easy trek to visit Lao Chai village of the Black H'Mong and Ta Van village of the Day. This tour offers breath-taking scenery for photographers.

Transfer back to Sapa by car. Have lunch at a local restaurant (excluded).

Afternoon enjoy another trek to visit Cat Cat village and waterfall. This trek to the waterfall is rather tough. You may like to take a local motorbike taxi for your comfort (excluded).

Transfer back to Sapa by car. Free tiime for relaxation 

Overnight in Sapa 

Day 7: SAPA - HANOI (B) (Car)
After breakfast, check out and transfer back to Hanoi by road through the new free way, along the countryside with mountains, rice paddies, plantatiosn etc. 

This drive takes about 6 hours. 

Transfer to the airport to take a flight back home 

End of service

Inclusions:

• Hotel accommodation with breakfast (based on twin sharing)
• All meals indicated in the program (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
• All ground transport on tour with A/C vehicles , boats, train (1 way, soft berth)
• All entrance fees
• Local English speaking guides (other languages upon request)

Exclusions:

• International flight tickets to and from Vietnam
• Visa for VN 
• Personal Insurance
• Personal expenses such as other meals, drinks, tips, etc. 
• All other accounts not mentioned in the above inclusions.