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The Best Of Northwest Vietnam – 7 Days

Mai Chau Rice Field 1
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The Heart of This Journey

Seven days on the great northwest loop, at a steady road-trip pace. From Hanoi you head into the White Thai valley of Mai Chau, over the tea hills of Moc Chau and the Pha Din Pass to the battlefield of Dien Bien Phu, then north along the Na River to Lai Chau and over Vietnam’s highest road pass to Sapa.

  • A night in Mai ChauA trek through rice fields, dinner with a White Thai family and a night of village music and dance.
  • Tea hills and high passesThe orchards and tea farms of Moc Chau, then the famous Pha Din Pass.
  • Dien Bien PhuThe battlefield, museum and bunkers where French rule in Indochina came to an end.
  • The Na River valleyRemote villages of the Thai, Kho Mu and Hmong people and an afternoon by bike in Phong Tho.
  • Over the Tram Ton PassVietnam’s highest road pass, with views of Fansipan and the Silver Waterfall.
  • Trekking the Muong Hoa ValleyPine forest, terraced paddies, a village school and a picnic by the river.

Tour Destinations:

Detailed Itinerary:

Here is how the seven days unfold, from the first sight of the Mai Chau valley to the long drive home through the Red River Delta. Every part of it can be adjusted: add a night where you want to linger, swap an activity or change your hotel class, and we will shape the plan around you.

Day 01:Hanoi – Mai Chau

Leave the capital for Mai Chau, a peaceful valley of emerald rice fields and stilt-house villages, home to the White Thai people.

Morning

Your guide and driver meet you in your hotel lobby for the drive of about 160 kilometres into the hills, past pagodas and rural villages. Call in on a Muong village along the way, then stop at the top of the Thung Khe Pass for your first view down over the valley.

Afternoon

After lunch in Mai Chau, set out on foot away from the usual tourist trail, through terraced rice paddies and small villages, learning about the traditions of the White Thai people as you go.

Evening

Spend the night in a Thai village, sharing dinner with your host family, followed by a lively performance of local music and dance.

Good to know: homestays are simple, with shared facilities.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Homestay in Mai Chau.

Day 02:Mai Chau – Son La – Dien Bien Phu

A long and beautiful day on the road, across the Moc Chau plateau and over one of the most famous mountain passes in the north.

Morning

Share a simple breakfast with your hosts before setting off. Along the way, stop at villages of the Hmong, Thai, Muong and Dao people, and at an orchard and a tea farm on the Moc Chau plateau, one of the finest tea-growing regions in Vietnam.

Midday

Arrive in Son La, about 200 kilometres from Mai Chau, for a late lunch.

Afternoon

Continue along winding mountain roads through the green countryside of the northwest. The most spectacular stretch is the Pha Din Pass, whose name in the local Thai language is often translated as “where heaven meets earth”. It was a vital supply route during the First Indochina War, and its hairpin bends still offer sweeping views.

Evening

Check in to your hotel in Dien Bien Phu and enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure, with dinner included.

Good to know: this is a long day of about 320 kilometres on mountain roads.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Dien Bien Phu.

Day 03:Dien Bien Phu – Lai Chau – Phong Tho

Dien Bien Phu, in a wide basin near the Laos border, is where the Vietnamese defeated the French in 1954, bringing French rule in Indochina to an end.

Early morning

Start at the local market, where Thai women in traditional dress come to buy and sell their farm produce.

Morning

Visit the Dien Bien Phu Museum and A1 Hill, scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the battle, then pause for a minute’s silence at the war cemetery in memory of those who died. See the bunker of the French commander, General de Castries, and the old Muong Thanh Bridge over the Nam Rom River.

Afternoon

After lunch, drive towards Lai Chau on a bumpy road, past the villages of the Kho Mu people, and cross the Da and Na rivers by the Hang Tom suspension bridge. The road then winds north through the beautiful Na River valley, past villages of the White Thai, Kho Mu and Red and White Hmong.

Late afternoon

Arrive in Phong Tho and spend the rest of the afternoon cycling around the village, before dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Phong Tho.

Day 04:Lai Chau – Tram Ton Pass – Sapa

Over the roof of northern Vietnam to the mountain town of Sapa.

Morning

Leave Phong Tho for Sapa, about 150 kilometres away. The road is bumpy in places, but the scenery more than makes up for it: wide valleys, winding rivers and towering mountains at every turn. Climb the Tram Ton Pass, the highest road pass in Vietnam, with views of Fansipan, the “Roof of Indochina”, and stop at the Silver Waterfall, which tumbles down the mountainside nearby.

Afternoon

Check in to your hotel in Sapa, a former French hill station in a sweeping valley near the Chinese border and now the best-known trekking base in the northwest, surrounded by terraced rice fields and hill tribe villages. Spend the afternoon exploring its colourful streets and market at your own pace.

Evening

Dinner is served in Sapa.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 05:Sapa Trekking

A full day on foot along one of the most beautiful trekking routes in Vietnam.

Morning

After breakfast, walk down into the Muong Hoa Valley, through pine forest, terraced rice paddies and Hmong villages. Stop at a village school along the way.

Midday

Enjoy a picnic lunch by the river.

Afternoon

Continue through a Giay village to Ta Van Bridge, where your driver is waiting to take you back to Sapa.

Evening

The evening is yours at leisure.

Good to know: the trek takes about five hours, mostly downhill, so good walking shoes are a must.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 06:Sapa – At Leisure

A day to discover Sapa and its mountain air at your own pace.

At leisure

Wander through the town, browse the market for handwoven textiles and embroidery, sit with a coffee and watch the clouds roll over the peaks, or ask your guide about a short walk to a nearby village.

Meals: Breakfast. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 07:Sapa – Hanoi

The long and beautiful drive back to the capital.

Morning

After an early breakfast, leave Sapa for the drive of about 320 kilometres to Hanoi. Make plenty of stops along the way as the landscape changes from steep mountains to the flat green plains of the Red River Delta.

Late afternoon

Arrive in Hanoi, where your tour ends.

Meals: Breakfast.

Day 01:Hanoi – Mai Chau

Leave the capital for Mai Chau, a peaceful valley of emerald rice fields and stilt-house villages, home to the White Thai people.

Morning

Your guide and driver meet you in your hotel lobby for the drive of about 160 kilometres into the hills, past pagodas and rural villages. Call in on a Muong village along the way, then stop at the top of the Thung Khe Pass for your first view down over the valley.

Afternoon

After lunch in Mai Chau, set out on foot away from the usual tourist trail, through terraced rice paddies and small villages, learning about the traditions of the White Thai people as you go.

Evening

Spend the night in a Thai village, sharing dinner with your host family, followed by a lively performance of local music and dance.

Good to know: homestays are simple, with shared facilities.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Homestay in Mai Chau.

Day 02:Mai Chau – Son La – Dien Bien Phu

A long and beautiful day on the road, across the Moc Chau plateau and over one of the most famous mountain passes in the north.

Morning

Share a simple breakfast with your hosts before setting off. Along the way, stop at villages of the Hmong, Thai, Muong and Dao people, and at an orchard and a tea farm on the Moc Chau plateau, one of the finest tea-growing regions in Vietnam.

Midday

Arrive in Son La, about 200 kilometres from Mai Chau, for a late lunch.

Afternoon

Continue along winding mountain roads through the green countryside of the northwest. The most spectacular stretch is the Pha Din Pass, whose name in the local Thai language is often translated as “where heaven meets earth”. It was a vital supply route during the First Indochina War, and its hairpin bends still offer sweeping views.

Evening

Check in to your hotel in Dien Bien Phu and enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure, with dinner included.

Good to know: this is a long day of about 320 kilometres on mountain roads.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Dien Bien Phu.

Day 03:Dien Bien Phu – Lai Chau – Phong Tho

Dien Bien Phu, in a wide basin near the Laos border, is where the Vietnamese defeated the French in 1954, bringing French rule in Indochina to an end.

Early morning

Start at the local market, where Thai women in traditional dress come to buy and sell their farm produce.

Morning

Visit the Dien Bien Phu Museum and A1 Hill, scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the battle, then pause for a minute’s silence at the war cemetery in memory of those who died. See the bunker of the French commander, General de Castries, and the old Muong Thanh Bridge over the Nam Rom River.

Afternoon

After lunch, drive towards Lai Chau on a bumpy road, past the villages of the Kho Mu people, and cross the Da and Na rivers by the Hang Tom suspension bridge. The road then winds north through the beautiful Na River valley, past villages of the White Thai, Kho Mu and Red and White Hmong.

Late afternoon

Arrive in Phong Tho and spend the rest of the afternoon cycling around the village, before dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Phong Tho.

Day 04:Lai Chau – Tram Ton Pass – Sapa

Over the roof of northern Vietnam to the mountain town of Sapa.

Morning

Leave Phong Tho for Sapa, about 150 kilometres away. The road is bumpy in places, but the scenery more than makes up for it: wide valleys, winding rivers and towering mountains at every turn. Climb the Tram Ton Pass, the highest road pass in Vietnam, with views of Fansipan, the “Roof of Indochina”, and stop at the Silver Waterfall, which tumbles down the mountainside nearby.

Afternoon

Check in to your hotel in Sapa, a former French hill station in a sweeping valley near the Chinese border and now the best-known trekking base in the northwest, surrounded by terraced rice fields and hill tribe villages. Spend the afternoon exploring its colourful streets and market at your own pace.

Evening

Dinner is served in Sapa.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 05:Sapa Trekking

A full day on foot along one of the most beautiful trekking routes in Vietnam.

Morning

After breakfast, walk down into the Muong Hoa Valley, through pine forest, terraced rice paddies and Hmong villages. Stop at a village school along the way.

Midday

Enjoy a picnic lunch by the river.

Afternoon

Continue through a Giay village to Ta Van Bridge, where your driver is waiting to take you back to Sapa.

Evening

The evening is yours at leisure.

Good to know: the trek takes about five hours, mostly downhill, so good walking shoes are a must.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 06:Sapa – At Leisure

A day to discover Sapa and its mountain air at your own pace.

At leisure

Wander through the town, browse the market for handwoven textiles and embroidery, sit with a coffee and watch the clouds roll over the peaks, or ask your guide about a short walk to a nearby village.

Meals: Breakfast. Accommodation: Hotel in Sapa.

Day 07:Sapa – Hanoi

The long and beautiful drive back to the capital.

Morning

After an early breakfast, leave Sapa for the drive of about 320 kilometres to Hanoi. Make plenty of stops along the way as the landscape changes from steep mountains to the flat green plains of the Red River Delta.

Late afternoon

Arrive in Hanoi, where your tour ends.

Meals: Breakfast.

Price Included:

Accommodation (3 star in average).

Breakfast & meals per mentioned in the itinerary.

Transportation by private car with A/C.

English-speaking guides.

All entrance fees, performances, boat trips & excursions.

Price Excluded:

International flight.

Travel insurance.

Vietnam Visa.

Gratuities for tour guides/drivers.

Beverages & other personal expenses.

Video Highlights:

Indulge in a vivid, sensory panorama of our cherished destinations, carefully curated to ignite your wanderlust and craft a tantalizing prelude to your forthcoming journey!

Private, tailor-made trip
7days
6 nights
  • DepartureAny date you choose
  • 6 stopsHanoi · Mai Chau · Dien Bien Phu · Son La · Lai Chau · Sapa
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