A ten-day private tour based in the northern mountains and culminating in an ascent of Mt. Fansipan, Vietnam’s tallest peak

Your tour begins with....
... time to recover, a night in Hanoi, a full day to explore the city and an overnight train journey
Once you’ve arrived and settled in, we’ll meet you over dinner to say “hello”, and talk about your tour. On the following day, we’ll show you the sights of Hanoi and take you to the Ethnology Museum to prepare you for your excursion up into the mountains.

In the late evening, you’ll board the overnight sleeper to Lao Cai, on the border with China.

Meals: one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner
Escort/guide: transfer from airport to hotel and evening, and the following day up to boarding the train

Three days among the ethnic minority communities
It’ll probably be a bit of a shock when we rouse you at five in the morning, but breakfast and the crisp fresh air of the mountains will soon wake you up. Then it’s off with an expert local guide to a remote, and therefore authentic, colourful ethnic market followed by a visit to a village and a night in Bac Ha.

An early night, then after a look at Bac Ha’s ethnic market in the morning and lunch, it’s off to Sapa - quite a drive, but the scenery makes it well worth the journey. There, you’ll have time to wander around and try one of the local restaurants for dinner.
On the following morning, a brisk trek to a local H’mong villages and back will get your blood flowing, and a free afternoon will leave you with time to prepare for your ascent.

Meals: three breakfasts, three lunches and one dinner
Guide: all three days

Two days up, one day down, and a day to recover - climbing and camping on Mt. Fansipan
At 3,143m, Fansipan is hardly Everest, but it’s not a pushover either. Climbing it doesn’t need mountaineering skills – it’s probably better described as a strenuous trek – but it does require high levels of fitness and stamina. You’ll climb about 850m across the foothills on the first day (Sapa is 1,650m above sea level). On the second day, the distance is far less – not much more than a kilometre or two, but the gradient is much steeper.

After the ceremonial flag planting and photographs at the summit (spoilt somewhat by the mundane altitude marker providing unequivocal evidence that you are not the first to conquer the mountain), you can settle down to a celebratory dinner and a sound nights sleep in the knowledge that the descent is a lot easier!

After your heroic efforts, you have a free day to relax, explore the town, trek or whatever you want to do, until it’s time to drive back to the station in time to board the overnight train back to Hanoi.

Meals: four breakfasts, seven lunches and three dinners
Guide: three days

Time to leave!
You’ll be free until your car arrives to take you to Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport.

Meals: one breakfast

This tour is ten days/nine nights
It includes:
All transfers and train fares
Expert mountain guide
Porterage for equipment
All accommodation in hotels, and camping equipment
Nine breakfasts, five lunches and five dinners

For more information about what’s included, and what isn’t, click on the ‘prices’ link below