What this trip is really like
For people who would rather walk between villages than sleep on a boat. Ha Long Bay becomes a day cruise with lunch, and the two Sa Pa nights are spent with a village guide, a farmhouse lunch and the passes above town.
Of everything on our list, this is the one that follows the capital with mountains instead of another stop on the coast or the plain. There is no night on the bay: a single day cruise covers it, which releases two nights for Sa Pa at the far end of a six-hour drive each way. Pick it if the Fansipan cable car and the northwest highlands matter more to you than time afloat.
In the mountains you travel by road to Heaven Gate, the Tram Ton Pass and the Silver Waterfall, then ride the longest cable car in the world to the 3,143-metre summit of Fansipan, the roof of Indochina. Plan around the transfers, which run some 315 km and about six hours in each direction, and avoid the wettest summer weeks, when the roads and the views are both less dependable.
Trip highlights
- A day cruise on Ha Long Bay, with lunch served aboard
- A six-hour overland drive to Sa Pa through terraced rice fields
- Heaven Gate, Tram Ton Pass and the Silver Waterfall
- A cable-car ride up Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina
- A half-day Hanoi city tour before you fly home
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi
Colonial streets, pagodas beside the lakes and the crowded Old Quarter ease you in before the long travel days. The afternoon you arrive is normally free, and the Old Quarter is the obvious place to spend it.
Day 2 — Ha Long Bay for the day, lunch on board
You leave early, crossing the rice fields of the Red River Delta to the coast, where a private junk takes you out for about four hours among the 3,000 limestone islands of the bay. Lunch on board is seafood; the drive back gets you to your hotel by evening.
Day 3 — Road to Sa Pa through the terraces
The Noi Bai–Lao Cai highway carries you northwest, terraced fields climbing the slopes on either side, with one break along the way. Check-in is followed by lunch at a local restaurant, and the evening is free to walk around the town.
Day 4 — Tram Ton Pass, Silver Waterfall, Fansipan by cable car
Rose farms and chayote trained over bamboo frames line the climb, and the Silver Waterfall makes the first stop. Heaven Gate and the Tram Ton Pass come next — at 2,047 metres, no road in the country goes higher — and then the Fansipan cable car, the world's longest and highest, which lifts you to the 3,143-metre summit known as the roof of Indochina. The drive back to the capital begins in the late afternoon.
Day 5 — Village walk, then back to Hanoi
The Lao Cai–Noi Bai highway takes you back down through the highlands, with one break on the way, for a last night in the capital.
Day 6 — Half a day in Hanoi, then the airport
Half a day covers the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda beside West Lake. The transfer to Noi Bai International Airport follows in the afternoon.
What's included
- Your rooms, twin or double with breakfast, in the hotel grade you pick with us — family-run guesthouses where they exist, small hotels elsewhere
- Every meal the day-by-day marks as included; we lean towards places locals eat rather than hotel restaurants
- A guide from the region who speaks English and grew up with the places on the route
- Your own air-conditioned car or minivan with driver for every transfer and touring day
- Entrance fees to every site named in the itinerary
- The boats, cruises and activities written into the plan
- Government taxes and service charges — the quote we send is the amount you pay
Not included
- Flights and trains, international or domestic — we quote these separately so you can see the real cost
- Visa fees and visa arrangements
- Travel insurance, which we ask every guest to carry
- Drinks, laundry, phone calls and anything else personal
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades
- Tips for your guide and driver — customary here, at your discretion
- Extra sightseeing or vehicle use beyond the written plan
- Costs caused by weather, road closures or other events outside anyone's control, settled on the spot
- Bank transfer charges
Book this trip
- Days
- 6 days / 5 nights
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