Welcome to Hanoi! After landing, you'll be met at the airport by our smiling team on the ground and driven to your hotel in the city. The rest of your day is yours to relax, acclimatise, and settle in after your journey. You can simply take it easy at your hotel, or head out to explore the town at your own pace, soaking up the atmosphere, exploring the local markets and getting your first taste of the street food. If you want some recommendations on where to eat tonight, chat to us, we'd love to help.

This morning, you’ll be collected by your private guide and taken on a fascinating tour to explore Hanoi’s highlights and local spots. Stops will be made at the Temple of Literature, a peaceful oasis and Vietnam’s first university, founded in 1076, as well as the Vietnam Women’s Museum, which celebrates the vital role of women in Vietnamese society. Your tour will finish with a wander through Hanoi's vibrant Old Quarter, where we're sure you’ll pick up lots of recommendations for where to eat this evening! 

Rise early this morning and enjoy a guided walk through Long Bien market, the biggest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Northern Vietnam. Next, you’ll have the opportunity to join in with a 30-minute Tai Chi Class alongside local Hanoians in this ancient practice of preparing for the day ahead. You’ll have worked up an appetite after the Tai Chi, so your guide will take you to a popular local restaurant for a traditional Pho breakfast and cup of coffee. Enjoy your afternoon at leisure before being transferred to Hanoi train station this evening for your first overnight train journey of your holiday, departing at around 10pm.

You'll have left the chaos of the city far behind on your overnight adventure, bringing you to Lao Cai station in the far north. Waking up to the mysterious and spectacular backdrop of the Tonkinese Alps will be quite the contrast this morning! Your guide will meet you at the station and drive you through the scenic valleys to your accommodation, where a delicious breakfast and a peaceful day await you.

We've left today free at your leisure to explore this magnificent part of Vietnam. You may choose to head into Sapa town itself to explore the local markets and even book the Fansipan cable car ride to the highest peak in Vietnam. Alternatively, you may choose to take a bike from your accommodation and enjoy some independent cycling through the remarkable countryside. Or, just simply unwind and marvel at the stunning views without even needing to leave your hotel pool.

Today, you're in for a treat with an authentic cultural insight into the Red Dao way of life. Your guide will walk with you from your accommodation to the nearby Lech Village, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet with your hosts and learn about their unique traditions dating back centuries. The villagers are famous for their brightly coloured clothing, beautiful handmade embroidery and intricate basket weaving. After the village tour, you’ll make your way back to your hotel, passing rice terraces and crossing over the picture-perfect suspension bridges that link the communities. 

Today, you'll spend the whole day making your way back to Vietnam’s capital using the delightfully comfortable Mountain Express shuttle bus. You can opt to swap this for another overnight train, but we think it’s nice to do the journey between Sapa and Hanoi both by day and by night, so you can experience how the dramatic landscape changes as you move through the country. At the end of your journey, you'll check into your hotel in the city for the night, before heading off to Ninh Binh in the morning.

This morning, you'll be picked up by your private transfer and driven from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, home to Vietnam's 'Halong Bay on Land'. When you arrive, you're free to explore at your own pace. There are plenty of activities to do here, such as cycling along the quiet lanes and experiencing a traditional sampan ride. But you could also simply relax amidst the area’s stunning scenery, there's plenty of it to take in!

This morning, we've included a half-day guided tour of Tam Coc, a UNESCO-listed gem known as ‘Halong Bay on Land’. During your tour, you’ll enjoy a peaceful sampan cruise through limestone caves, followed by a scenic bike ride past rice fields. You’ll also visit Bich Dong Pagoda and climb to Ngu Nhac Mountain to take in the panoramic views across the countryside. In the early evening, you’ll be collected by your guide, who will assist you with boarding your overnight train to Dong Hoi Station. It’s likely that this won’t offer the best night's sleep of your journey, but what an experience to say you have had!

In the early morning, you’ll arrive at Dong Hoi Railway Station, where you’ll be greeted by your private transfer and driven into Phong Nha National Park (we'll make sure you have early check-in to your room included so you can freshen up!). Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your lodge and enjoy a slow morning ahead of your afternoon activities. After lunch, we've included a half-day biking adventure around the Bong Lai Village and the surrounding countryside.

Your day will start today with a 3km cruise down the Son River to the mouth of the impressive Phong Nha Cave. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is one of the world's two largest limestone regions and is the oldest major karst in Asia, so make sure you have your cameras ready for your visit to these remarkable grottos.

Your journey continues south today through quaint villages and skirts along Cua Tung Beach to Hue. Along the way, we recommend stopping at the village of Vinh Moc, which was tragically positioned in one of the most heavily bombed areas of Vietnam. In order to escape this bombardment, the villagers constructed approximately 2.8 km of underground tunnels, using them as a refuge to survive the bombings. Three hundred people lived intermittently in the tunnels from 1966 to 1971. It's a truly fascinating place to stop en route, and much less-visited than the Cu Chi Tunnels near Saigon in the south. After checking into your hotel in Hue, this evening is at your leisure. However, please let us know if you'd like to add a street food tour, we'd always recommend it!

This morning, you'll have a guided tour of the highly impressive, UNESCO-listed Imperial Citadel of Hue. Just a few minutes’ drive from the modern city, you’ll discover the ancient grounds and buildings formed during the once mighty Nguyen Dynasty. Your guide will share stories of the intriguing former emperors and explain how the site has changed over the years. This evening, be sure to pick somewhere delicious for your last dinner in Vietnam – we can help with that! 

Bid farewell to Vietnam today as you board your connecting flight back to the UK from Hue Airport. We'll talk you through the different flight options to find the best one for you. Or, if you have the time, you may even opt to extend your holiday and journey onwards to Hoi An or beyond.