North Vietnam
Our tours in a Private Vehicle with Chauffeur and Guide




Mai Chau


2 to 4-day Tours

(Mai Chau, Ninh Binh - Tam Coc, Phu Yen and Babe Lake)

HANOI – MAI CHAU – HANOI (2 days/1 night in a White Thai village stilted house)

This tour takes you to the magnificent valley of Mai Chau, where you spend one night in a private house of the famous White Thai village of Ban Lac. You will discover also the Black H'mong villages in the Hang Kia Regional Park.


Day 1: HANOI - MAI CHAU - POM COONG (lunch, dinner)
  Morning departure to Hoa Binh. Stops on the road to admire the magnificent panorama, first on top of the pass, then on the descent overlooking the superb valley of Mai Chau. Arrival in the White Thai village of Pom Coong, where you settle for the night in a delightful family's traditional stilted house.

You spend the afternoon strolling or biking through the villages and the rice fields. Return to Pom Coong for diner and one night at your Thai home.
 

Day 2: MAI CHAU – PA CO – HANG KIA - HANOI (breakf, lunch)

We take the road to Son La and climb a pass with magnificent panoramas, to arrive at the entrance of the Hang Kia Regional Park, with its Black h'mong villages,(Paco and the supertb valley of the Kia Village) through which we stroll for a while. Return on the main road, lunch, and back to Hanoi, where we arrive around 18:00.


Rates per person in US dollars:

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$394 $224 $173 $151 $134



HANOI - HOA LU - TAM COC - PHAT DIEM – HANOI (2 days/1 night)

This tour takes you to the same three famous sites close to Ha Noi (Hoa Lu, Tam Coc, and Phat Diem),
with a day and half in the magic “Halong Bay on Land” of Tam Coc.

 
Day 1: HA NOI - HOA LU – TAM COC
(lunch, dinner)

Departure from your hotel at 9 AM, direction Hoa Lu (1h30). Visit of the two temples of Hoa Lu: Dinh Thien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh.

We then drive on 15 superb kilometers of small roads through the lime peak maze, one of our little "secrets", and arrive in Tam Coc at the hotel Chez Loan, in the serenity of the rice fields, a small hotel famous for its exceptional food (Mrs. Loan gives cooking lessons), and exceptionally friendly service; the best address in the region!
 

Delicious lunch of local specialties, followed by the visit of the Bich Dong Pagoda, built on 3 stages on a cliff, and Thai Vi Temple. Around 16:00, when the tourist groups have left, boating on the 3-tunnel river through lime cliff canyons, one of the “Must Do” of Vietnam. Evening free to visit the numerous shops where the embroideries are hand-made and sold. Delicious diner chez Loan (Vietnamese fondue).


 
Cathedral of Phat Diem
 
Day 2: TAM COC – PHAT DIEM - HA NOI (breakf, lunch)

After breakfast, short drive to the amazing Hang Mua Pagoda, perched on a high mountain, and from which you enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the entire region…at a price: climbing 450 steps, totally worthwhile (again, you will be alone, no other tours include that amazing visit). On the left of the steps, a short tunnel leads to the bank of the Tam Coc River.
 

Then, short ride through the rice fields and canals of the Delta, the center of North Vietnam Catholicism. Arrival for lunch at the stupendous –and, again, rarely visited- Phat Diem Cathedral (1891), a Sino-European architectural masterpiece of enormous proportions. Lunch near the cathedral and visit of the complex (bell tower, main building, and the 4 elegant chapels). Return to Ha Noi, where the driver leaves you at your hotel around 6 PM.


Rates per person in US dollars:

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$475 $282 $239 $210 $198



HANOI – MAI CHAU - HOA LU - TAM COC - PHAT DIEM – HANOI (3 days/2 nights)

 
Day 1: HA NOI – MAI CHAU – POM COONG
(lunch, dinner)

Morning departure to Hoa Binh. Stops on the road to admire the magnificent panorama, first on top of the pass, then on the descent overlooking the superb valley of Mai Chau. Arrival in the White Thai village of Pom Coong, where you settle for the night in a delightful family's traditional stilted house.

After lunch in your Thai family house, you spend the afternoon strolling or biking through the villages and the rice fields. Return to Pom Coong for diner and one night at your Thai home.
 


Day 2: MAI CHAU – HOA LU – TAM COC (3 meals)

    Departure from Mai Chau around 9 AM, direction Hoa Lu (1h30). Visit of the two temples of Hoa Lu: Dinh Thien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh.

Then drive on 15 superb kilometers of small roads through the lime peak maze, one of our little "secrets", and arrive in Tam Coc at the hotel Chez Loan, in the serenity of the rice fields, a small hotel famous for its exceptional food (Mrs. Loan gives cooking lessons), and exceptionally friendly service; the best address in the region!
 

Delicious lunch of local specialties, followed by the visit –by car on bicycle at your choice- of the Bich Dong Pagoda, built on 3 stages on a cliff, and Thai Vi Temple. Around 16:00, when the tourist groups have left, boating on the 3-tunnel river through lime cliff canyons, one of the "Must Do" of Vietnam. Evening free to visit the numerous shops where the embroideries are hand-made and sold. Delicious diner chez Loan (Vietnamese fondue).


 
Day 3: TAM COC - NINH BINH - PHAT DIEM - HANOI (breakf, lunch)

After breakfast, short drive to the amazing Hang Mua Pagoda, perched on a high mountain, and from which you enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the entire region…at a price: climbing 450 steps, totally worthwhile (again, you will be alone, no other tours include that amazing visit).

Then, short ride through the rice fields and canals of the Delta, the center of North Vietnam Catholicism. Arrival for lunch at the stupendous –and, again, rarely visited- Phat Diem Cathedral (1891), a Sino-European architectural masterpiece of enormous proportions.
 
Panorama from Hang Mua Pagoda

Lunch near the cathedral and visit of the complex (bell tower, main building, and the 4 elegant chapels). Return to Ha Noi, where the driver leaves you at your hotel around 6 PM.


Rates per person in US dollars:

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$667 $389 $319 $281 $260

The rates do not include the 2nd diner in Tam Coc.



MAI CHAU – TAM COC – HOA LU – KHEN GA (4 days/3 nights)

This exceptional tour is different from the preceding ones since it includes the visit of a very beautiful grotto and a boat ride, including the crossing of 3 other grottoes, in a recently-developed site practically unknown by tourists. As a matter of fact, we are presently the only ones to propose this tour.


Day 1 : HANOI – MAI CHAU – POM COONG (lunch, dinner)

    The driver and guide pick you up at your Hanoi hotel, direction the Red River Delta and the town of Hoa Binh. Stops on the road to admire the magnificent panorama, first on top of the pass, then on the descent overlooking the superb valley of Mai Chau.

Arrival in the White Thai village of Pom Coong. Registration at your stilted homestay, lunch, visit of the village and of the surrounding rice-fields and villages. Diner and night in the homestay.
 


 
Day 2 : MAI CHAU – THIEN HA GROTTO – TAM COC
(3 meals)

Morning departure to return on the Hoa Binh road and then turn East until the Ben Dong River. We are right in middle of the rice fields and lime peaks of the famous Halong Bay on Land.

Lunch in a Thai house alongside the river and short boat ride to reach the grotto which we visit, including a boat ride on its subterrean river.
   

We the return to the Ben Dong River and have a wonderful boat ride going through the But Grotto, two other ones, and we arrive in the Bich Dong Site, surrounded by lime peaks. A short car ride leads us to the celebrated hotel Chez Loan, where we have diner (Vietnamese fondue) and spend the night.


Day 3 : TAM COC, HANG MUA AND PHAT DIEM (3 meals)

    In the morning, bicycle ride among the rice fields and peaks to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda (Jade Pagoda) and Thai Vi Temple.

We then drive on a small road to reach an amazing site, Hang Mua Pagoda, on top of a cliff from which we have a breathtaking view of the entire region … after some efforts : 450 steps to climb, but the reward is a panorama rarely seen by tourists.
 

  Free lunch chez Loan, followed by a one-hour ride among the delta to arrive at the center of Vietnamese Catholicism, the Phat Diem Cathedral (1891), a huge 80-m long structure with a strange Chinese-European Gothic architecture.

Lunch and visit of the cathedral (the bell tower, the cathedral itself, and the 4 small gothic chapels). Return to Tam Coc, free à la carte diner and second night chez Loan.
   


Day 4 : TAM COC - HOA LU - KHEN GA - HANOI (breakf, lunch)

    Free time in Tam Coc, after which we take again the small Hang Mua road to reach Hoa Lu, first capital of the Kingdom of Vietnam.

Lunch, followed by the visit of the two temples : Dinh Thien Hoang, built to honor the first king of the Dinh Dynasty (968-980) and his 3 sons, and Le Dai Han, dedicated to the kings of the First Le Dynasty (980-1009).
 

We the cross part of the Red River Delta to arrive to two sites surrounded by a chain a peaks : the floating village of Khen Ga and the small village of Dong Dinh, where  we observe the daily life of their inhabitants. Return to your Hanoi hotel, where we arrive around 18:00.



Rates per person in US dollars

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$944 $535 $440 $380 $345


Important if you have planned to visit Hué : at the end of the 4 previous tours, instead of returning to Hanoi, you can take the night train Ninh Binh-Hué,which arrives in Hue aroung 10am.



BABE LAKE (3 Days/2 nights homestay)

This tour takes you to another magic place which offers 2 great advantages: a superb one-day boat excursion and the immense pleasure of spending 2 nights in a stilted house of the very hospitable White Thais of the village of Pac Ngoi. The lake (8 km long) lies in the middle of a 25 000-ha national park of rain forest and lime peaks, some over 1500 m high. The park counts several hundred species of flora and fauna, but its main attraction is the stunning views from the boat sailing through the lake and up the Nang River.


Day 1: HA NOI - THAI NGUYEN – LAC BABE (lunch, diner)

    Departure from your hotel to take the main road crossing the River Delta until the large town of Thai Nguyen. We then leave the main road to take a smaller one snaking through the mountains and tea plantations, passing the small towns of Cho Chu and Bang Lung, and arrive to White Thai village of Pac Ngoi, where you are welcomed by Mr. Duy Tho amazingly friendly Thai family in their traditional house.

If it’s hot, do like the local kids, just jump in the river! Superb diner (Mrs Duy Tho is a true Cordon bleu) on the river terrace.
 


Day 2: BABE LAKE (3 meals)

  A treat! Breakfast on the terrace, then short drive to the house owner’s boat, who takes you through the entire length of the 3 connected lakes (Ba Be - “3 bays”) and up the Nang River, to an astonishing site: Dong Phuong, an enormous 300m-long tunnel that the river has dug through a lime mountain.

The boat then goes up river to the small village of Hua Tang. As simple and authentic as you have been dreaming of! Lunch in a local house cooked by Pirathe, an older woman famous in the entire region for her culinary skills.

   

After lunch, a short walk through the jungle takes you to the very scenic Thac Dau Dang Waterfalls, a series of spectacular cascades between sheer rock walls. Return by boat for another delightful evening at your Thai house.


Day 3: BABE LAKE - HA NOI (breakf, lunch)

Late morning departure to reach the small village of Cho Ra and then join the main mountain road passing through the small town of Bac Kan. Lunch and we continue the road direction Thai Nguyen and Hanoi, where we arrive around 16:00.


Rates per person in US dollars

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$637 $371 $283 $251 $221



BA BE LAKE (4 days including one day boating and one day trekking)

This tour is the same as the 3-day one, but we have added one day of trekking in the National Park.


Day 1: HA NOI - THAI NGUYEN – LAC BABE (lunch, diner)

    Departure from your hotel to take the main road crossing the River Delta until the large town of Thai Nguyen. We then leave the main road to take a smaller one snaking through the mountains and tea plantations, passing the small towns of Cho Chu and Bang Lung, and arrive to White Thai village of Pac Ngoi, where you are welcomed by Mr. Duy Tho amazingly friendly Thai family in their traditional house.

If it’s hot, do like the local kids, just jump in the river! Superb diner (Mrs Duy Tho is a true Cordon bleu) on the river terrace.
 


Day 2: BABE LAKE (3 meals)

  A treat! Breakfast on the terrace, then short drive to the house owner’s boat, who takes you through the entire length of the 3 connected lakes (Ba Be - “3 bays”) and up the Nang River, to an astonishing site: Dong Phuong, an enormous 300m-long tunnel that the river has dug through a lime mountain.

The boat then goes up river to the small village of Hua Tang. As simple and authentic as you have been dreaming of! Lunch in a local house cooked by Pirathe, an older woman famous in the entire region for her culinary skills.

   

After lunch, a short walk through the jungle takes you to the very scenic Thac Dau Dang Waterfalls, a series of spectacular cascades between sheer rock walls. Return by boat for another delightful evening at your Thai house.


   
Day 3 : TREKKING IN THE NATIONAL PARK (3 meals)

Departure from your homestay around 8:00 for a beautiful trekking in the National Park. We walk through the rain forest and visit Dao and Tay villages.

Picnic lunch and return to Pac Ngoi around 17:00. Diner and 2nd night in your homestay.
 


Day 4 : BABE LAKE - HANOI (breakf, lunch)

Late morning departure to reach the small village of Cho Ra and then join the main mountain road passing through the small town of Bac Kan. Lunch and we continue the road direction Thai Nguyen and Hanoi, where we arrive around 16:00.


Rates per person in US dollars

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$851 $503 $384 $338 $289



PHU YEN (PHOTOGRAPHERS ROUTE) (2 days)

Once again, we are the only ones to offer this exceptional tour. It takes you on the famous Route 32, known as The Photographers' Route. You will admire a dam lake and, above all, a H’mong village that could not be more traditional. In case you do the whole Photographers route from Hanoi to Nghia Lô, La Pan Tan, Mu Can Chai and Sapa, we can include the first night in Phu Yen, the second being in Nghia Lô.

 
 
Day 1 : HANOI – THAY AND TAY PHUONG PAGODAS – SON TAY - DUONG LAM (MONG PHU) - PHU YEN (0 meals)

Departure from your hotel at 8 am for the Thay Pagoda (Chua Tay – Master's Pagoda), a large complex of pagodas on several levels of a limestone peak rising from the rice fields. In front of the complex, a small lake bordered by multicolored houses and café terraces, with a pretty little pagoda and two covered humpback bridges.
 

10 km further, another amazing complex, much smaller, the Tay Phuong Pagoda (Chua Tay Phuong – West Pagoda), famous for the beauty of its carved roofs. Three parallel buildings at the top of another limestone peak, the oldest of which dates from the 13th century. Magnificent polychrome wooden sculptures from the 17th-18th centuries representing "Human conditions" and Quan Am, the thousand-armed goddess.

  We then go to the village of Duong Lam. We stop first to visit the beautiful Mia Pagoda (Sugar Cane Pagoda), three parallel buildings dating from 1632, famous for containing 287 polychrome statues of all sizes, most of them in terracotta, the oldest in Vietnam . We then walk through the streets of the very old village of Mong Phu, several houses of which have belonged to the same family for over 400 years. We visit the communal house (dinh) and several old houses; lunch at your charge in one of the oldest.

We then arrive in the mountains of the Middle region and reach the town of Phu Yen, where we spend the night in a bungalow (dinner on your own).
   


 
Day 2 : VISIT AROUND PHU YEN – HANOI (0 meals)

Free breakfast. Very nice day which begins with the visit of the Ho Mai dam lake, with its beautiful panorama. We then arrive in an amazing H’mong village for its authenticity, no tourist visiting it. Walk in the village. Free lunch in Phu Yen and return to Hanoi (or you can continue to Tam Coc).

 


Rates per person in US dollars :

1 pers. 2 pers. 3 pers. 4 pers. 5 pers.
$395 $209 $166 $137 $125