Active travel in North and Central Vietnam

Price from 3,663 EUR / person

Do you want a real active adventure? Where on your own can you get close to the authentic Vietnam? Then this trip is the case! Here, fantastic hiking in Vietnam’s highest mountains, with self-guided bicycle days, cruises and kayaks, and not least exciting hiking in the Tu Lan caves in the middle of Vietnam. The journey combines active adventures, with exciting cultural meetings, good food and unique nights.

Topas Self Guided Bike Tour

This journey includes our unique Topas Self-guided Bike Tour (TSC) in Sapa.
3 days of cycling through the mountain area, where you can enjoy the freedom of moving around at your own pace, but at the same time feel comfortable that we handle all the practicalities and safety of the trip.
Our GPS-enabled smartphone will guide you on the route and it will also show you where the best local eateries for lunch are and which dishes we can recommend. The phone also acts as your security as it can constantly show us where you are and is the hotline for our employees.

Tu Lan Caves

Hiking and cave exploration in the Tu Lan caves has a minimum age of 16 years.

Travel day by day

  Activity Accommodation
Day 1 Departure from home country
Our travels are based on departure from international airports in EU, but if you are interested in departing from other airports, we can of course also help with that.

(- / - / -)
Day 2 Arrival in Hanoi Hong Ngoc Dynastie
When you land in Noi Bai, Hanoi Airport, our driver welcomes you and drives you to your hotel in Hanoi.

The rest of the day you can get a first impression of colorful Hanoi on your own or relax after the journey.

(- / - / -)
Day 3 TME to Sapa. Cycling to Lech Village Topas Ecolodge
You will be picked up early in the morning to ride Topas Mountain Express to Sapa and Topas Ecolodge. The silence up here and the beautiful views of the mountains and valleys are balm for the soul and you enjoy it all from your private terrace.

The afternoon offers a short bike ride to the neighboring village of Lech, which is inhabited by the ethnic minority Red Dao. In the village we visit a local Red Dao family and can experience the culture of the minority in the immediate vicinity. In general, life in the village is lived as it has been lived for centuries. In respect of each other and nature.

The tour continues to Moi village where you see the women make their very special and very beautiful embroidery.

(B / - / -)
Day 4 Full day trek to Silver Stone Mountain Topas Ecolodge
The day is a great opportunity to climb Silverstone Mountain and from the top enjoy the views of the valley villages and the surrounding mountains. Along the way you will meet local ethnic minorities - Red Dao and Black H’mong - and learn a little about their culture and life.

This hike takes you to the top of the mountain behind Topas Ecolodge. The trip is relatively short, but rather steep uphill. First on roads, then through a Red Dao village and finally through a bamboo forest. From the top of Mount Silverstone there are breathtaking views of the lodge, Ban Ho village and Thanh Kim Valley.

The walk down a smaller steep route. Here you pass a small, unspoilt and very nice Black H’mong village, hidden just outside the forest.

(B / L / -)
Day 5 TSG Biking TEL - Nam Cang Topas Riverside Lodge
You are now ready for your first day on a bike. Your guide on the trip is a GPS phone that can show you the way, show staff at the lodge where you are and finally used as a phone, should you need help. In short, you are in safe hands all day, even if you are on your own.

The tour starts right at Topas Ecolodge and goes down into the Muong Bo valley, just below the lodge. The area is very varied with high mountains, fertile valleys, rice terraces, villages and at the same time home to several ethnic minorities. On the trip you will have plenty of opportunities to get close to everyday life in the villages. People here are - like us good tourists - friendly and curious.

The winding mountain road leads you downhill to the Ban Ho village, where the Tay people live in their beautiful post houses. Spend some time exploring the village.

The trip continues towards Thanh Phu, where we have selected a place you can eat buy your lunch. The GPS phone shows you the way and even has a suggestion for an exciting local law.

The afternoon is a little more challenging. It is now uphill on a small dirt road to Nam Nhiu and Nam Than villages inhabited by Red Dao and Blue H’mong minorities respectively. The local children will follow you with interest and big smiles as you find your way between pigs, chickens and water buffalo.

Today's walk through the beautiful landscape ends at Nam Cang By a rushing river. We are deep in the Sapa valley and close to Topas Riverside Lodge, located in the edge village.

The rest of the afternoon there is time to relax, swim or walk around to explore the Red Dao village of Nam Cang.

While cycling, our driver has transported your luggage to the Topas Riverside Lodge

(B / L / D)
Day 6 TSG Biking Nam Cang - Vo Lao Guesthouse Vo Lao
Today, the bike ride from Nam Cang begins to go downhill easily through rice fields, mountains and villages. Take a break and enjoy the view of the rice terraces along the road and the beautiful waterfall. Also, take the time to consider life as it is lived as generations ago. Perhaps the peasants are in the process of sawing or harvesting the crucial rice - or plowing with a buffalo in front of the plow.

The tour continues down the mountain along the Muong Bo River and at noon you arrive at Xuan Giao. Again today we have selected a good place to have lunch. The small restaurant offers delicious local dishes such as fish from the river, spring rolls, chicken or pig, all served with freshly steamed rice.

In the afternoon the bike ride flattens out. First through the town where you have just eaten lunch, and then further out between fields and over rivers in the valley, where Tay, Red Dao and Vietnamese live peacefully together in the villages. During the afternoon you arrive at the Vo Lao village. Here is a small guest house, the day's goals and accommodation.

If you have the courage for more, you can cycle to a local market not far from the guest house, or maybe take a walk around the village.

(B / - / -)
Day 7 TSG Biking Vo Lao - Khe Lech. Return to Hanoi Hong Ngoc Dynastie
Today, the cycle tour begins on small paths and roads south through the valley. Villages, rice fields, people's lives and eager children. You meet with smile on your way. The whole morning the road rises easily, with some short steep stretches. All the time, the landscape changes with new prospects, with the palm trees floating weakly in the wind and the scratched mountains in the background.

At noon you arrive at Khan Yen, where the GPS phone again has suggestions for a lunch place. After lunch, you continue the interesting journey further through the rice valley past the villages with the characteristic post houses, along watercourses, soon on dirt roads, soon on paths in this remote and peaceful region of northern Vietnam.

In the afternoon you reach the road at Khe Lech, where a minibus is waiting for you and will take you to the main road to the main road, where after a bath at a hotel, Topas Mountain Express will pick you up and take you to your hotel in Hanoi.

(B / - / -)
Day 8 Cruise in Lan Ha Bay La Pinta
After breakfast, it's time to head for Lan Ha Bay. Lan Ha Bay is the neighboring bay to the more famous and crowded Halong Bay. In Lan Ha you have the same impressive nature, but share the space with fewer people.

You will be driven directly to the sea and the pier, where a smaller boat will take you to the larger ship, which will sail around Lan Ha Bay. The ship will also be your home the next few days, and therefore you get a good introduction to the ship and the safety aboard during the welcome drink.

Along the way to Cat Ba Island, you sail past lots of small islands, through canals and out through the Cat Ba National Park. Hundreds of beautiful limestone cliffs rise up from the sea, birds of prey circles and fishing boats churn back and forth.

After a delectable lunch with everything from the sea, caught right outside, there is a gangway on Cat Ba Island, where a bus takes you to Trung Trang cave in the protected forest in the middle of the island. On a short guided hike in the forest you will be introduced to the national park and the tropical nature.

Then there is the possibility of bathing and kayaking.
Back on the boat, the chefs will introduce you to traditional Vietnamese cooking. Maybe you will learn a few new tricks that can dup home in Denmark…

Dinner is served on board.
After dinner, try the squid fishing or enjoy your free time on the private balcony of your cabin.

(B / L / D)
Day 9 Kayak in Lan Ha Bay La Pinta
You wake up in your cabin with a view of the green limestone cliffs that rise picturesque from the sea. After breakfast on board you will be picked up by a local fisherman who will take you in his small wooden boat on a boat trip around Lan Ha Bay. A boat trip not only to enjoy the beauty, but also to learn how to fish with the net.

Later you can even paddle in kayak and get very close - and on land - on the islands where the big boats cannot maneuver. Find a lovely beach, grab a refreshing dip in the water, get some sun on your body - or just enjoy life with a good book in the shade of this glorious corner of the world.

We lunch the way along the way, again with everything good from the sea before the sailing trip continues around in Lan Ha Bay among islands, fishing boats and beaches - and may there be time for another swim?
The evening meal is served on board when we are returned to the large ship.

(B / L / D)
Day 10 Cruise ends. Nighttrain to Dong Hoi Night train
Wake up in the middle of the bay, breathe in the fresh air, watch the sunrise on the wide horizon and admire the breathtaking archipelago. A short boat trip in smaller boat takes you to a nearby fishing area with really nice opportunities for pictures.

Back on the cruise ship you can enjoy breakfast before heading for the Dark & Bright Cave. To get all the way to the cave you need to sail with a bamboo boat.

The cruise ship serves a delicious fare brunch before their limousine service returns you to Hanoi.

(B / L / -)
Day 11 Tu Lan 2 day Encounter Tent Tu Lan Caves
You arrive at Dong Hoi Station early in the morning. Our driver is ready to take you to Phong Nha where you can have breakfast before transfer to Tan Hoa, close to the Tu Lan Caves.

To get to the caves, you go with the guide a few kilometers between corn and peanut fields, and with water buffalo as spectators, down to the Rao Nan River. The adventure unfolds in front of you as you climb a rocky hillside and a small jungle opening gives you free view of the river and the valley.

You can enjoy our lunch included in the Hung Ton Cave opening and get ready to continue the hike down the Hung Ton Valley and up the Mango Mountain.

In the middle of the afternoon, the day's accommodation, Tu Lan Campsite, appears on the horizon. Just take a walk under the waterfall before your guides provide a delicious BBQ dinner.

You get the night sleep in a tent or, if you like, in a hammock between the trees.

(- / L / D)
Day 12 Tu Lan caves Chay Lap Farmstay
The second day of your cave expedition starts with a solid breakfast table, so you are ready. You intend to cross the river to enter the heart of the Tu Lan cave system from the water side through the blue lagoon entrance. Furthermore, it goes through the cave still down the river until you reach the dry part of the cave and from here continue on into the complex.

Lunch is served as a picnic right next to the magnificent waterfall in the Hung Ton cave opening. After lunch, continue down the Hung Ton Cave towards the Tan Hoa Valley, thus ending the 2-day cave experience.

Enjoy a cool drink and take a shower before heading back to your hotel.

(B / L / -)
Day 13 Day free Night train
Phong Nha National Park is home to the most majestic cave systems in the world - some over four million years old - formed because of the purity of limestone here and the many rivers flowing through its karst mountains.

Today you have time yourself. You can visit Paradise Cave or Dark Cave which is not far from your hotel. In the evening you will be transferred to Dong Hoi station for night train to Danang.

(B / - / -)
Day 14 Hoi An Little Beach Hoi An
Today you are on your own in Hoi An and here is plenty to look at. The old town is intersected by canals and you can find everywhere traces of the many traders who have visited the city for centuries. Portuguese, Dutch, Arab, Chinese, French - everyone has been here and left their mark. With the many interesting buildings from the different eras, it is natural that the city has the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sailors have been shopping here and got their clothes sewn in Hoi An since the city's heyday. The harbor is sandy to-day, but it still teems with good and cheap tailors who sew on purpose and deliver from day to day. Is it in Hoi An you need to renew your wardrobe?

(B / - / -)
Day 15 Cycling to Hidden Beach in Hoi An Little Beach Hoi An
After breakfast you will be picked up at the hotel and today's menu is a full-day bike ride. First, the trip takes a local ferry a little up the river, where the first stop is a visit to Cam Kim village, which is especially known for its carpentry and wood carvings. The trip continues along quiet small roads through rice fields to a local market before we take a boat to Cam Thanh village. Here, the brave can try a trip on the water buffalo. The bike ride continues to the peaceful An Bang beach and a delicious lunch at a local family.

The afternoon is for relaxing on the beach, but why not try to catch fish with nets or from the small curve boats? The locals will gladly help you and it is a wonderful experience.

At the end of the day we cycle back to Hoi An

(B / L / -)
Day 16 Transfer to Danang for flight home
Your return journey is from Danang airport, only an hour's drive from Hoi An, and you can spend the day getting the last experiences before the driver drives you to the airport.

(B / - / -)
Day 17 Arrival in Denmark

From 3,663 EUR / adult

+ 630 EUR for solo travellers

The price includes

  • A local guide to support during 3 days biking with GPS
  • Seat in coach Limousine to/from Sapa & Haiphong
  • Water & snack on excursions in Sapa
  • Kayaking & bamboo boat
  • Bicycle & helmet
  • Train ticket Hanoi – Dong Hoi & Dong Hoi – Danang (shared 4berth-cabin)
  • Flight from international airport in europe
  • All local transport in private car with driver unless othervise stated
  • Local english speaking guide during excursions
  • Sim-card and phone hot line to local Topas employee in Vietnam during entire
  • Accommodation at indicated hotel (twin shared room)
  • Meals as indicated above (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D= Dinner)
  • All entrance fees to the indicated places
  • Airport taxes and fees
  • Contribution to the Travel Guarantee Fund

The price does not include

  • Drinks and meals not mentioned in the detailed program (approx. USD 5-15 pr. meal)
  • Visa
  • Personal insurance, travel insurance and cancellation insurance
  • Tips for tour guide and driver
  • Personal expenses

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