Northwest Vietnam 11-Day Private Tour: Sapa, Tu Le, Mu Cang Chai, Moc Chau & Pu Luong
An 11-day private loop through Vietnam's north-west mountains: four nights in Sapa with the cable car up Fansipan and a full day on foot through the Muong Hoa valley, then one way south through the rice terraces of Tu Le and Mu Cang Chai, past Ngoc Chien and Nam Chien Lake to the coffee hills of Son La, over the Moc Chau plateau and down into the Pu Luong nature reserve. Your own guide and driver, any start date. From US$1,581 per person for 2 travellers in 3-star hotels with one homestay night, less per person for larger groups.
Why travellers choose this trip
- Stand on Fansipan, at 3,143 metres the highest point in Vietnam, after the record-breaking cable car ride from Sapa
- Walk a full day through the Muong Hoa valley, from Black H'mong farmland down to Giay and Red Dao villages
- See the terraces of Tu Le and Mu Cang Chai from Khau Pha Pass and the Mam Xoi and Mong Ngua viewpoints, with a night in a Thai stilt-house homestay
- Stop at Ngoc Chien, Nam Chien Lake and a Son La coffee plantation, a route few visitors take
- Finish with two nights among the rice terraces of Pu Luong, with a walk to a bat cave and a swim at Hieu waterfall
- One way, no backtracking: every long drive is broken with stops worth making
Price per person
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$1,581 | US$1,726 |
| 3 travellers | US$1,201 | US$1,346 |
| 4–5 travellers | US$1,107 | US$1,252 |
| 6–7 travellers | US$886 | US$1,031 |
| 8–9 travellers | US$881 | US$1,026 |
| 10 or more | Ask us for a quote | |
| Single room supplement | US$253 | US$380 |
Valid for travel until 31 December 2027, except Tet (Lunar New Year), Vietnamese public holidays and the Christmas–New Year peak, when hotels 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.
Where you stay
Named properties are confirmed at booking; if one is full we use an equivalent of the same standard. In Mu Cang Chai and Moc Chau both versions use the same hotel, the best available locally.
| Place (nights) | 3-star & homestay | 4-star |
|---|---|---|
| Sapa (4) | Azure Sapa Hotel, Superior Room or similar | Sapa Highland Resort & Spa, Superior Room or similar |
| Tu Le (1) | Thai family stilt-house homestay (shared facilities) | Osen Tu Le Hotel or similar |
| Mu Cang Chai (1) | Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge, bungalow or similar | Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge, bungalow or similar |
| Moc Chau (1) | Muong Thanh Moc Chau, Deluxe Room or similar | Muong Thanh Moc Chau, Deluxe Room or similar |
| Pu Luong (2) | Boc Bandi Hotel, Eco Garden or Pu Luong Valley Home, bungalow | Boc Bandi Hotel, Eco Garden or Pu Luong Retreat |
| Hanoi (1) | La Dolce Vita Hotel, Superior Room or similar | Champton Hotel Hanoi, Deluxe Room or similar |
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.
Tour at a glance
| Duration | 11 days / 10 nights |
|---|---|
| Type | Private tour — any departure day |
| Route | Hanoi → Sapa → Fansipan → Muong Hoa Valley → Tu Le → Mu Cang Chai → Ngoc Chien → Nam Chien Lake → Son La → Moc Chau → Pu Luong → Hanoi |
| Accommodation | 3-star hotels and lodges, with 1 night in a Thai stilt-house homestay in Tu Le · 4-star version available |
| Meals | 10 breakfasts, 2 lunches (12 meals); dinners at your own arrangement |
| Walking | Day 3: 14–15 km trek in the Muong Hoa valley · Day 9: 8–10 km in Pu Luong (moderate) |
| Driving | Day 1 about 5–6 hours, Day 7 about 7–8 hours with stops; other road days about 2–4 hours |
| Price | From US$1,581 pp (2 travellers, 3-star) · US$881 pp for 8–9 travellers |
| Not included | Flights, visa, dinners and most lunches, tips, insurance |
- Trekking
- Car
- Mountain
- Caves
- Gastronomy
Itinerary, day by day
Land in Hanoi, a bowl of pho, and the expressway up into the Hoang Lien Son mountains.
Your guide and driver meet you in the arrivals hall at Noi Bai International Airport and take you first to a local restaurant for a bowl of pho, beef or chicken, before the road north.
The drive to Sapa runs on the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway: around 320 kilometres and five to six hours with a comfort stop. Most of it is fast highway up the Red River valley; only the last 30 kilometres climb into the Hoang Lien Son range, and you will feel the temperature drop as you reach Sapa at around 1,600 metres.
You check in during the late afternoon. The evening is free to walk into Sapa town at your own pace: the stone church, the square and the lake are all within a few minutes of each other. Dinner is at your own arrangement.
- Drive: about 5–6 hours to Sapa
- Meals: lunch
- Overnight: hotel in Sapa
The cable car to the roof of Vietnam, then waterfalls on the O Quy Ho Pass road.
After breakfast your guide collects you for the short transfer to the Fansipan cable car station. The cable car holds the Guinness record as the longest three-rope cable car in the world at 6,292 metres, and the ride to the mountain station takes about fifteen minutes. From there it is roughly 600 steps up to the summit marker at 3,143 metres, the highest point in Vietnam. On a clear day you look across the whole Hoang Lien Son range and down into the Sapa valley; in fog you see fog. Both happen often, so ask your guide about the morning forecast the evening before. Buffet lunch is served at the restaurant near the mountain station.
In the afternoon you drive west out of Sapa onto the O Quy Ho Pass road, one of the four great passes of the north. About 12 kilometres from town is Silver Waterfall, a drop of some 200 metres right beside the road, with a short paved path up to the viewing platforms. A few kilometres further on is the trailhead for Love Waterfall and the Golden Stream inside Hoang Lien National Park: around 30 minutes each way on a forest path along the stream. Back to Sapa in the late afternoon; dinner at your own arrangement.
- Drive: short transfers, about 40 km
- Meals: breakfast, buffet lunch
- Overnight: hotel in Sapa
The classic Sapa walk: 14 to 15 km through the villages of the Muong Hoa valley.
A short transfer takes you to the trailhead at Y Linh Ho, from where a dirt track drops through Black H'mong farmland to the Muong Hoa river. The morning leg through Y Linh Ho and on to Lao Chai takes around two and a half hours at a steady pace and is mostly downhill.
Ta Van sits on the flatter floor of the valley among the Giay community and is the natural place to stop for lunch, at your own arrangement; your guide knows the homestays that cook for walkers. In the afternoon you walk another hour and a half to two hours to Giang Ta Chai, a Red Dao village further down the valley, crossing the Muong Hoa on a suspension bridge and passing through a small bamboo forest. The vehicle meets you at Giang Ta Chai for the 45-minute drive back to Sapa.
The day covers 14 to 15 kilometres and is of moderate difficulty. The trail is muddy after rain and steep in places on the way down, so walking shoes with a proper grip matter more than anything else you pack. If the weather turns, your guide can shorten the route at Lao Chai or Ta Van.
- Drive: 14–15 km on foot, short transfers
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: hotel in Sapa
A Black H'mong village below Fansipan, then the Red Dao communities of Ma Cha and Ta Phin.
A short transfer to Cat Cat, a Black H'mong village three kilometres from town at the foot of Fansipan, inside Hoang Lien National Park. The walk runs past working farmhouses and onto a path along the river through rice paddies and maize, ending at a suspension bridge by the waterfall, with the chance to step inside a H'mong family home on the way. Back in town, lunch is at your own arrangement.
In the afternoon you drive about 12 kilometres north to the Ta Phin area. The first stop is Ma Cha, a small Red Dao settlement on the hillside above the main valley; then Ta Phin itself, the main Red Dao community, known for its embroidery, the ruins of an old French abbey at the edge of the village, and the Red Dao herbal bath, a traditional preparation of up to twelve mountain plants. If you would like to try it, the bath is booked at a homestay on arrival and paid locally, usually 150,000 to 250,000 VND per person. Return to Sapa in the late afternoon; dinner at your own arrangement.
- Drive: short transfers, about 40 km
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: hotel in Sapa
South on the high mountain road, through tea gardens to the sticky-rice valley of Tu Le.
After breakfast you check out and drive south towards the Tu Le valley on the high mountain road, through tea gardens and small Tay and H'mong communities; allow around four hours of driving plus stops. On the way you stop at a working tea plantation for photographs and a tasting of green tea and Shan Tuyet, the tea picked from old trees at altitude in this region. Lunch is at a local restaurant on the road, at your own arrangement.
Coming into the Tu Le basin you make a short visit to Lim Mong, a Black H'mong village high on the hillside above the Cao Pha valley, with a viewpoint over its terraces. Tu Le is known for its sticky rice, grown on the terraces around the village and pounded in a wooden mortar. In the 3-star version tonight is a homestay in a stilt house run by a Thai family, who will cook dinner if you let your guide know during the afternoon, paid directly to them. In the 4-star version you stay at a hotel with hot-spring baths fed from the springs Tu Le is named for, and dinner is at the hotel restaurant. Either way dinner is at your own arrangement.
The homestay in the 3-star version is simple and is part of the point of the night: mattresses on a wooden floor with mosquito nets, and shared bathrooms downstairs. It is one night, and the lodge at Mu Cang Chai tomorrow is a step back up in comfort.
- Drive: about 4 hours plus stops
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: Thai stilt-house homestay in Tu Le (4-star version: Osen Tu Le Hotel)
Over Khau Pha Pass to the terraces of Mu Cang Chai, with motorbike taxis up to Mam Xoi and Mong Ngua.
Breakfast at the homestay, then around two hours' drive south through the heart of the rice-terrace district. You stop at the top of Khau Pha Pass, another of the four great passes, where the view drops to the Lim Mong valley and across to the terraced hillsides opposite; the light is best in the middle of the morning. Lunch on arrival in Mu Cang Chai is at your own arrangement.
In the afternoon you visit the two best-known viewpoints in the district. Mam Xoi, the rice mound, is a cone-shaped hill with terraces spiralling round it; Mong Ngua, the horseshoe, is a curved sweep of fields on the opposite hillside. Both are reached on narrow farm tracks the vehicle cannot use, so local motorbike taxis take you up to each viewpoint and back down, and that ride is included. You check in at the lodge in the late afternoon, with bungalows facing the rice fields; dinner at the lodge restaurant, at your own arrangement.
Mu Cang Chai is at its most famous in the last two weeks of September, when the terraces turn gold before harvest. Outside that window the hills are green with growing rice in summer, or bare and being flooded for planting in spring: still worth the drive for the shape of the land, but not the golden pictures you may have seen.
- Drive: about 2 hours plus viewpoints
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: Mu Cang Chai Ecolodge, bungalow
A Thai valley in the mountains, a lake below the peaks, a hill-tribe market and a Son La coffee plantation.
This is the longest driving day of the trip, broken up by stops all the way. After breakfast you leave Mu Cang Chai for Ngoc Chien, a Thai valley high in the mountains of Muong La district, where you stop to visit a rose farm. On the way down you pull over on the bank of Nam Chien Lake, the reservoir held back in the valley below the peaks, for photographs of the water and the terraced slopes above it. In Muong La town you stop to walk through the local market, where Thai and H'mong families from the surrounding villages come to buy and sell.
You continue to Son La city for lunch, at your own arrangement, then on towards the Moc Chau plateau, around 1,000 metres up. On the way you stop at a coffee plantation: Son La is one of the main arabica-growing provinces of the north. You check in at your hotel in Moc Chau in the late afternoon, and the rest of the day is free and easy. Dinner at your own arrangement.
- Drive: 7–8 hours including stops
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: Muong Thanh Moc Chau
The world's longest glass bridge, the heart-shaped tea hill, then south into Pu Luong.
After breakfast and check-out, a morning on the plateau. The first stop is the Bach Long, or White Dragon, glass bridge: a 632-metre glass walkway 2.4 metres wide and about 150 metres above the valley floor, recognised by Guinness as the longest of its kind. Allow 45 minutes to an hour including the queue; cloth covers are handed out to wear over your shoes on the glass. Then the Heart Tea Hill, a small hill outside Moc Chau town planted with tea in the shape of a heart: a 20 to 30 minute stop.
Lunch is at a local restaurant at your own arrangement, then around four hours' drive south into Thanh Hoa province and the Pu Luong nature reserve. The last hour winds through hills before the road drops into the valley. You check in at your lodge in the late afternoon, set among the rice terraces with a restaurant on site, where dinner is at your own arrangement.
- Drive: about 4 hours to Pu Luong
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: lodge in Pu Luong
A walking day in the reserve: a Thai village with a bamboo waterwheel, a bat cave and seven small cascades.
The morning starts in Don, a White Thai village of stilt houses and terraced fields with a working bamboo waterwheel halfway along: an easy, mostly flat hour and a half. A short transfer takes you to Kho Muong, where a path climbs to the Bat Cave, a large limestone cavern in the hill above the village. The cave runs deep, with bats overhead and chambers of stalactites further in; the air stays cool all year. Your guide carries a torch, but your own is useful.
The trail continues down towards Hieu village and Hieu waterfall, seven small cascades fed by a stream from the village above. Lunch is at a stilt-house restaurant beside the falls, at your own arrangement, and afterwards there is time to swim in the pools below the lower cascades, so pack a swimsuit. Back at the lodge in the late afternoon; dinner at your own arrangement.
The day covers 8 to 10 kilometres at moderate difficulty, on village paths and a short rocky climb to the cave.
- Drive: 8–10 km on foot, short transfers
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: lodge in Pu Luong
Back to the capital by mid-afternoon, with a free evening in the Old Quarter.
Breakfast at the lodge and check-out, then the drive back to Hanoi by the Ninh Binh side road and the Phap Van expressway, around four hours including a lunch stop at a local restaurant at your own arrangement. You arrive in the middle of the afternoon and check in at your hotel.
The evening is free in the city: Hoan Kiem Lake, the Hang Dao night market from Friday to Sunday, and the beer corner at Ta Hien street, busy every night. Dinner at your own arrangement.
- Drive: about 4 hours to Hanoi
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: hotel in Hanoi
A free morning, then the transfer to Noi Bai airport.
Breakfast at the hotel and a free morning until check-out at midday; luggage can be left at reception if your flight is later. At the time agreed the day before, your guide and driver take you to Noi Bai International Airport for your onward flight. End of our services.
- Drive: about 35 km to Noi Bai airport
- Meals: breakfast
- Overnight: none
What's included
Included
Ten nights' accommodation in the version you choose, twin or double share, with daily breakfast: 4 in Sapa, 1 in Tu Le (a homestay in the 3-star version), 1 in Mu Cang Chai, 1 in Moc Chau, 2 in Pu Luong and 1 in Hanoi
Meals as listed: 10 breakfasts, a beef or chicken pho lunch on Day 1 and the buffet lunch at the Fansipan mountain station on Day 2 (12 meals)
Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver throughout, including expressway tolls and parking
Private English-speaking guide for the whole loop
Fansipan cable car return ticket
Entrance fees for every site on the programme, including the Bach Long glass bridge at Moc Chau
Motorbike taxis up to the Mam Xoi and Mong Ngua viewpoints at Mu Cang Chai
Two bottles of drinking water per person per day
Government tax and service charges
Not included
International and domestic flights
Vietnam visa and e-visa fees
Travel insurance (we strongly recommend cover that includes trekking and medical evacuation)
Dinner on every evening, and every lunch other than Day 1 and Day 2
Drinks and personal expenses (laundry, telephone, minibar)
Optional activities, such as the Red Dao herbal bath at Ta Phin on Day 4
Tips for your guide and driver: customary rates are US$9 per traveller per day for 2–3 travellers, US$5 for 4–9 and US$3 for 10 or more
Single room supplement, and surcharges for Tet, public holidays and the Christmas–New Year peak
Age pricing
| 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 | $1,075 · 68% of the adult fare | No extra bed |
| Child in own single bed | 3 to 10 years | $1,360 · 86% of the adult fare | Extra bed |
| Child sharing a twin room with one adult | 3 to 10 years | $1,581 · 100% of the adult fare | Own bed in a twin room |
| Child 11 and over (adult fare) | 11 years and over | $1,581 · 100% of the adult fare | As an adult |
Frequently asked questions
US$1,581 per person for 2 travellers in the 3-star version (with one homestay night in Tu Le), or US$1,726 in the 4-star version. The price per person drops for larger groups: US$1,201 for 3, US$1,107 for 4–5, US$886 for 6–7 and US$881 for 8–9 (3-star). The single room supplement is US$253. Prices include 10 nights' accommodation, a private guide and driver, 12 meals, the Fansipan cable car, the Moc Chau glass bridge and all entrance fees, 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 loop. Days 1 and 7 are the long drives (5–6 hours to Sapa, and 7–8 hours from Mu Cang Chai to Moc Chau with stops); Days 5, 8 and 10 are about 4 hours. Day 3 is a 14–15 km trek through the Muong Hoa valley and Day 9 an 8–10 km walk in Pu Luong, both of moderate difficulty. The loop runs one way, so there is no backtracking. If you are prone to motion sickness, bring your usual remedy.
In the 3-star version you spend one night in a stilt house run by a Thai family: mattresses on a wooden floor with mosquito nets, and shared bathrooms downstairs. The family will cook dinner if you tell your guide during the afternoon, paid directly to them. If you prefer a hotel, the 4-star version uses Osen Tu Le Hotel, with hot-spring baths.
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, add nights in Sapa or Pu Luong, or time your trip for the golden terraces of Mu Cang Chai in late September. 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. The Fansipan cable car and the Moc Chau glass bridge set child tickets by height rather than age; where the child ticket is cheaper we pass the saving on. Days 3 and 9 are long walks, so tell us the children's ages and we can shorten them.
Breakfast is included every day, plus lunch on Day 1 (pho) and Day 2 (buffet at the Fansipan mountain station). Other lunches and all dinners are at your own arrangement, so you choose where and what to eat; your guide helps with ordering. In Mu Cang Chai and Pu Luong the lodge restaurant is usually the practical option in the evening. Vegetarian, halal, no-pork and allergy requirements can be arranged for the included meals if you tell us at booking.
The tour runs all year. Mu Cang Chai and Tu Le are at their most famous in the last two weeks of September, when the terraces turn gold before harvest; in summer they are green, and in spring they are flooded for planting. Sapa can be cold and foggy in winter, and Fansipan's view depends on the morning weather in every season. Trails in Sapa and Pu Luong are muddy after rain.
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