An 11-day private loop through Vietnam's far north-east: the stone plateau of Dong Van and the Nho Que canyon below Ma Pi Leng Pass, two nights by Ba Be Lake, Ban Gioc Waterfall on the China border, and a night on a cruise in Halong Bay. Your own guide and driver, any start date. From US$1,745 per person for 2 travellers in 3-star hotels and family homestays, less per person for larger groups.
Per person in US dollars, sharing a twin or double room, for one private departure. The price per person drops as the group grows, because the vehicle and guide are shared:
| Group size (adults) | 3-star & homestay | 4-star |
|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | US$1,745 | US$1,896 |
| 3 travellers | US$1,355 | US$1,507 |
| 4–5 travellers | US$1,266 | US$1,419 |
| 6–7 travellers | US$1,036 | US$1,188 |
| 8–9 travellers | US$950 | US$1,103 |
| 10 or more | Ask us for a quote | |
| Single room supplement | US$274 | US$407 |
Valid for travel until 31 December 2027, except Tet (Lunar New Year), Vietnamese public holidays and the Christmas–New Year peak, when hotels and cruises add surcharges and we requote. Children's prices are in the Age pricing table below. Send us an inquiry or message us on WhatsApp +84 988 660 505 and we confirm your price in writing within 24 hours.
Named properties are confirmed at booking; if one is full we use an equivalent of the same standard. On the Dong Van plateau and at Meo Vac there are no international-brand hotels, so the 4-star column there is the best that exists locally.
| Place (nights) | 3-star & homestay | 4-star |
|---|---|---|
| Hanoi (2) | Hanoi Anise Hotel & Spa or similar | Golden Silk Boutique Hotel or similar |
| Nam Dam, Quan Ba (1) | Red Dao family homestay, private room and bathroom | H'Mong Village Resort or similar |
| Dong Van (1) | Hoa Cuong Hotel Dong Van or similar | Altura Maison Dong Van or similar |
| Meo Vac (1) | Hoa Cuong Hotel Meo Vac or similar | Clay House Meo Vac or similar |
| Ba Be (2) | Tay stilt-house homestay, Pac Ngoi village | Saigon Ba Be Mountain Lake Resort or similar |
| Ban Gioc (1) | Tay stone-house homestay, Khuoi Ky village | Saigon Ban Gioc Resort or similar |
| Halong (1) | Ha Long Diamond Hotel or similar | Saigon Halong Hotel or similar |
| Halong Bay cruise (1) | 3-star cruise, Deluxe Ocean-View cabin | 4-star cruise, suite with jacuzzi |
Planning your trip? Read our Vietnam e-visa guide and the best time to visit Vietnam by region and month, or browse all Vietnam tours.
| Duration | 11 days / 10 nights |
|---|---|
| Type | Private tour — any departure day |
| Route | Hanoi → Ha Giang → Lung Cu → Dong Van → Ma Pi Leng → Meo Vac → Ba Be → Ban Gioc → Lang Son → Halong Bay → Hanoi |
| Accommodation | 3-star hotels, 4 nights in family homestays (private room and bathroom) and 1 night on a Halong Bay cruise · 4-star version with resorts available |
| Meals | 9 breakfasts, 1 brunch, 8 lunches, 1 dinner (19 meals) |
| Driving | Days 2, 5, 7 and 8 are 6–9 hours on mountain roads, including stops |
| Permits | Two border-zone permits included · passport scans needed 7 days before departure |
| Price | From US$1,745 pp (2 travellers, 3-star) · US$950 pp for 8–9 travellers |
| Not included | International flights, visa, dinners except on the cruise, tips, insurance |
Land in Hanoi, walk the French Quarter and the Old Quarter, and see the water puppets by Hoan Kiem Lake.
Your guide and driver meet you in the arrivals hall at Noi Bai International Airport and take you the 35 km into Hanoi. Check in and rest; if you land in the morning, your room may not be ready until the hotel's normal check-in time.
In the afternoon, walk from the French Quarter, past the Opera House the colonial city finished in 1911, to Hoan Kiem Lake and the red Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple. Then turn into the Old Quarter, whose narrow streets still carry the names of the trades that settled them: Hang Bac for silver, Hang Ma for paper offerings.
In the evening, watch the water puppet show at the Thang Long theatre by the lake, an art that grew up in the rice villages of the Red River delta, where the flooded paddy was the stage.
North into the mountains: a Tay village, the Bac Sum Pass, Heaven Gate and your first night with a Red Dao family.
An early start north on the expressway, up the Lo River valley to Ha Giang, with a coffee stop on the way. (Since July 2025 Ha Giang has been part of the enlarged Tuyen Quang province, but everyone still calls the region Ha Giang.) Lunch in Ha Giang town, then a short visit to Thon Tha, a Tay village of stilt houses among rice fields.
The road then climbs the Bac Sum Pass to Quan Ba Heaven Gate, looking down over Tam Son town and the two rounded hills known as the Fairy Bosom. Late in the afternoon you reach Nam Dam, a Red Dao village of rammed-earth houses, and meet the family you stay with. Your hosts can cook dinner for you, paid on the spot.
We arrange the border-zone permit for the Ha Giang frontier districts in advance; it is checked on this road.
Across the Dong Van Karst Plateau to the H'mong lords' mansion and the flag tower near Vietnam's northernmost point.
Drive through pine forest and the grey limestone of the Dong Van Karst Plateau, a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2010, to Yen Minh for lunch. In autumn the terraces at Sung La are pink and white with buckwheat flowers; the valley's H'mong houses, with stone walls and yin-yang tiles, were the setting of the 2006 film Pao's Story.
At Sa Phin, visit the Vuong Family Mansion, home of the H'mong lords who ruled this border country in the first half of the 20th century, built of stone and pomu cypress by craftsmen from Yunnan.
In the afternoon climb Lung Cu Flag Tower, near Vietnam's northernmost point, under the 54-square-metre national flag: one square metre for each of Vietnam's ethnic groups. On the way down, walk through Lo Lo Chai, a village of the Lo Lo people. Then on to Dong Van for the night. Lung Cu needs its own border permit; it is included.
The most photographed road in northern Vietnam, then a boat up the jade-green Nho Que River.
Morning in Dong Van's old quarter, a short street of two-storey houses with clay-tiled roofs built in the early 1900s, and its market. On Sundays H'mong, Dao and Lo Lo families walk in from villages hours away to trade; on other days the market is much smaller, so tell us if you want your dates to fit a Sunday.
The road to Meo Vac runs along the cliff of Ma Pi Leng, the "Happiness Road" cut by hand by youth volunteers between 1959 and 1965. Stop at the Panorama viewpoint and walk the path along the edge, with the Nho Que River far below in the Tu San canyon.
Then go down to the river: from the Ta Lang landing a boat takes you up the Nho Que between canyon walls several hundred metres high, the water deep jade green in the dry months. A short drive brings you to Meo Vac; the evening is free.
The longest and most varied drive of the trip, ending on the shore of Vietnam's largest natural lake.
Leave the plateau east into Cao Bang province, stopping for photos and village walks, with lunch near Bao Lac on the Gam River. The afternoon runs south through Tay and Nung country to Ba Be National Park.
Ba Be has been a national park since 1992 and a Ramsar wetland since 2011, and its lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam. You stay two nights in Pac Ngoi, a Tay village of stilt houses on the shore, with time for coffee on the veranda and a walk through the village. (Since July 2025 Ba Be has been part of Thai Nguyen province.)
Three linked lakes, a river that runs through a mountain, a waterfall lunch and a swim in the Fairy Pond.
Your boatman takes you across the three linked lakes of Ba Be (Pe Lam, Pe Lu and Pe Leng), past Ba Goa, the widow's island of the local legend, and out into the Nang River.
The river runs straight through a limestone mountain at Puong Cave, under a vault some 30 metres high; stop to walk up into the chambers. Lunch is at Dau Dang Waterfall, where the Nang drops over a series of rock steps. In the afternoon cross back to Ao Tien, the Fairy Pond, with time to swim in warm weather, and return to the village as the light goes.
Vietnam's widest waterfall by bamboo raft, a kilometre of cave, and a night in a stone-built Tay village.
Drive north-east by way of Cao Bang town, with lunch on the road. In the afternoon reach Ban Gioc, where the Quay Son River falls over limestone ledges on the border with China. It is Vietnam's widest waterfall, about 300 metres across in the wet season, and a bamboo raft takes you close enough to feel the spray.
A few kilometres away, a lit path of about a kilometre leads through the chambers of Nguom Ngao Cave. The night is at Khuoi Ky, a Tay village of houses built entirely of limestone blocks.
Ban Gioc is fullest from about June to September; from about January to April it can split into separate falls, and the raft may not run when the river is very high after heavy rain.
A travel day from the border to the coast, with Lang Son's roast pork for lunch.
Follow the valleys south through That Khe to Lang Son, the old frontier town on the Ky Cung River, where lunch is the local roast pork with mac mat leaves. Continue to Halong by expressway, with coffee and photo stops, and check in on the Bai Chay side.
The evening is free along the waterfront. Breaking the journey here means a calm morning tomorrow rather than a dawn start from the border.
A slow morning, then a night at anchor among the limestone islands.
Breakfast at the hotel and check-out around noon. Board your boat at the harbour and have lunch as you sail out among the islands. Halong Bay was inscribed by UNESCO in 1994, and again in 2000 for its geology; its nearly two thousand limestone islands are the drowned tops of the same karst you have driven across all week.
In the afternoon visit one of the bay's caves, choose a kayak or a rowed bamboo boat through a sheltered lagoon, and have time on a small beach, with a swim if the weather allows. Dinner on board; the ship anchors for the night in a quiet part of the bay.
Each ship runs its own programme; we confirm the schedule when your cabin is booked. On board, the cruise's English-speaking guide leads the excursions, and your guide meets you at the pier in the morning.
Sunrise from the top deck, brunch on board, and back to Hanoi by early afternoon.
Watch the sun come up over the islands from the top deck; most ships also offer a short tai chi session. Brunch is served as the boat cruises back to port, and you are ashore by late morning. Your guide and driver meet you at the pier for the drive back to Hanoi on the expressway. The rest of the day is free.
The Ho Chi Minh Complex, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature before your flight.
After breakfast, visit Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Complex: the mausoleum, the yellow Presidential Palace and the stilt house where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1958. Beside it stands the One Pillar Pagoda, first built in 1049.
The last visit is the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius, which became Vietnam's first university in 1076; its 82 stone steles of doctoral graduates are on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. In the afternoon your driver takes you to Noi Bai International Airport.
The mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays and for annual maintenance, usually in autumn; on those days you see it from Ba Dinh Square and visit the rest of the complex as normal.
10 nights' accommodation in the version you choose, twin or double share, with daily breakfast: 2 in Hanoi, 7 on the road and 1 on the Halong Bay cruise
Meals as listed: 9 breakfasts, 1 brunch, 8 lunches and 1 dinner on the cruise (19 meals)
Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver throughout, including expressway tolls and parking
Private English-speaking guide for the whole programme
Border-zone permits for the Ha Giang frontier districts and for Lung Cu
Entrance fees: Ngoc Son Temple, Thang Long water puppet show, Vuong Family Mansion, Lung Cu Flag Tower, Ba Be National Park, Ban Gioc Waterfall, Nguom Ngao Cave, Ho Chi Minh Complex and the Temple of Literature
Nho Que River boat, full-day boat at Ba Be and bamboo raft at Ban Gioc
Halong Bay overnight cruise in a private cabin with lunch, dinner and brunch on board, bay fees, cave visit and kayak or bamboo boat
Two bottles of drinking water per person per day
Government tax and service charges
International flights into and out of Vietnam
Vietnam visa fee
Travel insurance (we recommend cover that includes medical evacuation, as several nights are some hours from a hospital)
Dinners except the one on the cruise, and lunch on Day 1 and Day 11
Drinks and personal expenses (laundry, telephone, etc.)
Tips for your guide and driver
Early check-in and late check-out
Christmas, New Year, Tet and public-holiday surcharges where hotels or cruises apply them
| Traveller | Age | Rate per person | Sleeping arrangement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant (parents pay any entrance fees) | 0 to 2 years | No charge | No extra bed |
| Child sharing parents' bed | 3 to 10 years | $1,187 · 68% of the adult fare | No extra bed |
| Child in own single bed | 3 to 10 years | $1,501 · 86% of the adult fare | Extra bed |
| Child sharing a twin room with one adult | 3 to 10 years | $1,745 · 100% of the adult fare | Own bed in a twin room |
| Child 11 and over (adult fare) | 11 years and over | $1,745 · 100% of the adult fare | As an adult |
US$1,745 per person for 2 travellers in the 3-star and homestay version, or US$1,896 in the 4-star version. The price per person drops for larger groups: US$1,355 for 3, US$1,266 for 4–5, US$1,036 for 6–7 and US$950 for 8–9 (3-star). The single room supplement is US$274. Prices include 10 nights' accommodation, a private guide and driver, 19 meals, all boat trips, entrance fees and border permits, and are valid for travel until 31 December 2027 outside Tet, public holidays and the Christmas–New Year peak.
Yes. Only your group travels in the vehicle, with your own guide and driver, and you can start on any date. Because it is private, the guide stops wherever you want a photo or a break.
This is a mountain road trip. Days 2, 5, 7 and 8 are 6 to 9 hours door to door including stops, on paved but winding mountain roads. Day 4 is about 3 hours, and Day 6 is spent on a boat. If you are prone to motion sickness, bring your usual remedy for the Ma Pi Leng and Bao Lac sections.
In the 3-star version you spend four nights with local families: Red Dao at Nam Dam, Tay at Pac Ngoi (two nights) and Tay at Khuoi Ky. Each booking has a private room with its own bathroom, hot water, clean bedding and a mosquito net. There is no lift or room service, most rooms have no air-conditioning, and the walls are timber or stone. Dinner is not included, but the family will cook for you on request, paid on the spot. If you prefer hotels, the 4-star version uses resorts on those nights.
Yes. Foreign visitors need two border-zone permits, one for the Ha Giang frontier districts and one for Lung Cu. We apply for both and they are included in the price. We need a clear scan of every traveller's passport photo page at least 7 days before the tour starts.
Citizens of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Nordic countries, Japan, South Korea and a number of other European countries can enter Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. Most ASEAN citizens get 14 to 30 days. Everyone else, including US, Canadian, Australian and Indian passport holders, applies online for an e-visa (up to 90 days, single or multiple entry) at the official portal evisa.gov.vn, usually issued in about 3 working days. Full list in our Vietnam e-visa guide at worldmatetravel.com/guide-for-vietnam-evisa.
Send an inquiry and we confirm the price in writing within 24 hours. Nothing is charged on this website. To confirm your tour, pay a 30% deposit by bank transfer or by Visa, Mastercard or Amex through a secure OnePay payment link that we email to you. The remaining 70% is due at least 14 days before you arrive. The deposit is non-refundable. If you cancel (in writing) more than 21 days before departure, you lose only the deposit, and any amount paid above it stays valid for 12 months towards another tour. From 7 to 21 days before departure the charge is 50% of the tour price, and within 6 days or for a no-show it is 100%. Groups of more than 8 people, and tours that include flights or Mekong river cruises, have different terms. Full details are in our Terms & Conditions at worldmatetravel.com/terms-and-conditions#cancellation.
Yes. Every day can be changed. You can choose the 4-star version with resorts instead of homestays and a 4-star cruise suite, add nights, or fit your dates so you are in Dong Van on a Sunday market day. Tell us what you'd like and we send a revised quote within 24 hours.
Yes. Children under 3 travel free. Children aged 3 to 10 pay 68% of the adult price without an extra bed, 86% with an extra bed, and 100% when sharing a room with one adult. From 11 years, the adult price applies. Homestays can usually put families in shared or connecting rooms; tell us the children's ages when you book.
The tour runs all year. In autumn the buckwheat flowers are in bloom around Sung La. Ban Gioc Waterfall is fullest from about June to September; from about January to April it can split into separate falls, and the Nho Que River is at its greenest in the dry months. If the harbour authority closes Halong Bay to overnight stays because of a storm warning, the cruise operator offers a day cruise with a refund of the difference, or a refund of the cruise.
5.01 note from travellers who have toured with World Mate Travel
“Hi Number 2, Thanks alot for the photos. Everyone enjoyed the holiday because of your good service, i.e. very efficient and responsive. We will definitely recommend you to our friends who wish to visit Vietnam. We will contact you again when we plan to visit Vietnam in future. Take care and best wishes. - Hwang Jenny ( Maybank - Malaysia)”
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