6-Day North Vietnam Discovery Tour

Have fun with our 6-Day North Vietnam Discovery Tour and learn about Vietnam’s vast ethnic diversity. Set out from Hanoi on a journey through magnificent mountain passes, pine forests, and canyons, passing through the hair-raising Ma Pi Leng Pass and stopping in highland towns like Dong Van, Tam Son, and Cao Bang.

Visit the King of the H’mong’s Palace and the Ban Gioc waterfalls along the way, as well as the Nguom Ngao and Hua Ma caves, and sail over Ba Be Lake. Accommodation, meals, and a homestay in a traditional stilted house are all included in this private tour.

6-Day North Vietnam Discovery Tour

Highlights

• 6-day tour of North Vietnam from Hanoi
• Get off-the-beaten-track and visit remote Tay and Black H’mong villages
• Cross the dramatic Ma Pi Leng pass and cruise along Ba Be Lake
• Enjoy a homestay in a traditional stilted house
• Visit Ban Gioc waterfall, Dong Puong, Meo Vac market, and more
• Great value tours with all accommodation, meals, and activities included
• This private tour ensures an authentic local experience with undivided attention from your guide

Flights and hotel search for Hanoi

Itinerary

Day 1: Ha Noi – Ha Giang

Ha ha homestay cơm tày hạnh hà

At around 8 a.m., your guide will pick you up from your Hanoi hotel. We’ll travel from Tuyen Quang to Ha Giang, passing through numerous tea plantations, mountains, and ethnic minority communities along the way. Before arriving in Ha Giang in the late afternoon, you will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Tuyen Quang. If time allows, you can explore the town and meet the locals before dinner and an overnight stay in a native Tay home.

Day 2: Ha Giang – Dong Van

Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark

Your journey to Dong Van will be packed with stunning vistas in the shape of a succession of long passes as we depart from Ha Giang after receiving our permit from the immigration office.

Before traveling to the spectacular “King of the H’mong Palace,” a castle built by a local chief, Vuong Chin Duc, who aligned himself with French soldiers against the Viet Minh, you’ll stop for lunch in the quiet and lovely mountain village of Tam Son.

This palace was constructed in the early 1900s in the style of old Chinese architecture from the Qing era, using materials such as solid stone blocks, wood, and terracotta tiles. You’ll arrive in Dong Van around 6 p.m. and enjoy dinner at a local restaurant before spending the night in a motel.

Day 3: Dong Van – Ma Phi Leng – Meo Vac – Cao Bang

Ma Pi Leng Pass

Breakfast will be followed by a visit to the Dong Van Market, where inhabitants from all of the neighboring villages come to buy and barter for necessities that they cannot produce themselves. Then you’ll go up to Pu Lo fortress, which was erected in 1890 and decommissioned in 1945.

From here, you may take in breathtaking views of the entire region before rising 15 kilometers to the top of Ma Pi Leng Pass, which takes you through a massive maze of limestone peaks, stone forests, and canyons before falling into Meo Vac Valley.

After that, you’ll drop into Meo Vac Valley, stopping at Meo Vac Market before continuing on the winding road through the mountains, across the river, and arriving in Cao Bang. In Cao Bang, you will have dinner and spend the night.

Day 4: Cao Bang- Ban Gioc Waterfalls

Ban Gioc Falls

This is sure to be the highlight of your journey, as we take you to Ban Gioc Waterfall, one of Northern Vietnam’s most stunning natural beauties. This breath-taking 300-meter wide waterfall stands exactly on the border between China and Vietnam, amidst stunning hilly scenery, and is about a two-hour drive from Cao Bang.

While you’re here, you can rest in the glow of nature, take some incredible photos, and board a bamboo boat that will carry you so close to the falls that you’ll feel the spray on your face. You’ll be almost sitting on the border of Vietnam, so near to China that you can touch it. Following your time at the waterfall, you’ll go deep underground into the magnificent Nguom Ngao Cave to see the rock formations formed by weathering over millennia.

After exploring the waterfall and cave, you’ll continue down a magnificent, little-known route that twists through the mountains before arriving in Quang Uyen’s Nung village. Before having dinner at Mr. Hung Dao’s house and settling in for the night in this comfortable traditional Nung house, you’ll be greeted by Mr. Hung Dao, an incredibly pleasant blacksmith.

Day 5: Cao Bang – Ba Be Lake

Ba Be National Park

Breakfast will be served at the hotel, followed by a three-hour journey to Cho Ra, where lunch will be served. From here, board a boat for a tour through the three lakes that make up Ba Be Lake and up the Nang River to Puong Cave, a 300-meter-long mountain tunnel. If it’s hot outside, go for a swim in the cool, refreshing water before visiting the stilt houses in Coc Toc, a Tay ethnic minority village, where you’ll spend the night in Mr Linh’s Homestay, which is set in a traditional Tay house and allows you to experience the Tay community’s incredible hospitality.

Day 6: Ba Be Lake – Hanoi

Ba Be National Park

After breakfast, we’ll take you for a walk down the riverfront to see some of the nearby villages, followed by a trip up to one of the higher places around the lake, where you’ll be treated to some spectacular views surrounded by limestone formations and mountain peaks.

You’ll travel through Pac Ngoi Village on your way here, which is a particularly good example of traditional stilt house design. We then proceed to Hua Ma Cave, which is known for its thousands of stalactites and stalagmites.

Your driver will take you via a pass known as “Dog Flower Pass” on the way back to Hanoi, where we’ll stop and give you the opportunity to capture some fantastic shots of the terraced fields surrounding you.

We’ll finish our drive back to Hanoi after you’ve taken your photos and eaten lunch in a local restaurant, and drop you off at your hotel about 6 p.m.

This concludes our 6-Day North Vietnam Discovery Tour. Safe travels!