CYCLING NORTHERN REGION - 6 DAYS 5 NIGHTS

07:30. Meet your private guide in your hotel lobby. After a short briefing about the cycle tour, depart Ha Noi heading southwest by car. After about 2-hour drive, arrive in Luong Son, Hoa Binh Province. Load up the bikes and travel along quieter roads with less traffic. Start cycling for about 30 km uphill. 

Arrive at Cun Mountain, take in the panoramic views of Mai Chau surrounded by green valleys and the area’s trademark stilt houses.

At around 12:00 noon, stop at Poom Coong village in Mai Chau for a home-hosted lunch. Enjoy a short break.

In the afternoon, cycle to some Thai ethnic minority villages via a mixture of good single track paths and undulating rough jeep trails. The views are stunning as you pass through many villages, hamlets and across rice paddies. The cyle tour for today ends at your hotel in Mai Chau.

Check-in. Rest of the day and evening at your leisure.

Overnight in Mai Chau.
 

08:30. After breakfast, you will be picked up by car for your transfer to Mai Hich village.

Your excursion starts with a walk along the dirt trail through forests with tropical trees through local villages of the Thai ethnic minority in Mai Chau. The spectacular scenery gradually appears before you. Continue hiking to Buoc village, the one boasts idyllic rice fields dotted with tiny stilt-houses, a hanging bridge, and murmuring streams. Visit a Thai house, chat with the locals and discover their traditional culture and stilt house living environment.

Enjoy a home-hosted lunch before returning to Mai Chau by car.     

In the afternoon, cycle 02 kilometers to Chieu cave, a mysterious chamber used to be a place of prayer. The only way to tour this cave is by climbing a 1,200-step stone staircase to the magnificent cave with two chambers. The starting point of the staircase is right beside the giant and ancient Xa Pung tree. Inside Chieu Cave, it is quite flat and cool and impressive. You will be surprised by the pristine, shimmering and endless stalactite forests. The stalactites come in many shapes, sizes and colors that makes you feel like being transported back in time, to the vivid prehistoric area.

Return to the hotel on bicycle. Rest of the day and evening at your leisure.

Overnight in Mai Chau.

After breakfast, check-out of your hotel. Cycle to Cuc Phuong National Park in Ninh Binh Province. The ride takes you through paddy fields, and rural hamlets of Hoa Binh and Ninh Binh provinces. 

Arrive in Cuc Phuong around noon. Lunch at a local restaurant. 

In the afternoon, visit the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation, breeding, research, and conservation of endangered primates, and protection of their habitats in Vietnam.

Next is the Turtle Conservation Program which is a rescue and holding center for tortoises and freshwater turtles which are in danger from the extensive illegal wildlife trade.

Visit the 7,000-year-old Cave of Prehistoric Man before traveling by private vehicle to Tam Coc. 

Check-in to your hotel. Rest of the day and evening at your leisure.

Overnight in Ninh Binh.
 

After breakfast at the hotel, cycle to the pier of Tam Coc. Embark on a two-hour boat ride along the Ngo Dong River, rowed by local women. Begin at Van Lam village, meandering through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers. The route includes floating through Tam Coc’s three natural grottos (Hang Ca, Hang Hai, and Hang Ba), the largest of which is 125 m long with its ceiling about 2 m high above the water.

Return to the dock, disembark and continue your cycling tour to nearby Bich Dong Pagoda (pagoda of the Emerald Grotto). This is a cave pagoda dating from the 15th century and the site of 3 main pagodas - Chua Ha, Chua Trung and Chua Thuong. Start walking across a stone bridge and then up the stone steps of the mountain passing through the dark cave, after which you will find yourself on top of the mountains with panoramic views of the surrounding area below.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, travel by private car to Thung Nham Eco Tourism Zone. Visit a thousand-year streblus tree grown completely on a large rock. Its shape and posture are considered incomparable in Vietnam. One should not miss the “moving” banyan tree in Goi Dai Temple. According to scientists, the position of this tree changes every 300 years due to further development of its auxiliary root system. In addition, Thung Nham also has garden where a ariety of tropical fruits are grown such as guava, apple, star fruit, mango, custard apple, etc. and the primeval forest with its diversified ecosystem is the home to 109 species of flora and 150 species of fauna.

Next is the bird park, with more than 4,000 birds from 40 species which fly to this area every day. From the observation tower, this fascinating sight of approaching birds gradually appears before one’s eyes. After a day of hunting for food, the flocks of birds gradually return to perch on the tops of trees and bamboo. It only takes a tiny noise to startle these thousands of birds which then fly into the sky en masse.

Depart the bird park and cycle back to your hotel.

Rest of the day and evening at your leisure.

Overnight in Ninh Binh.
 

08:00. After breakfast, check-out of your hotel and cycle to Mua Cave, one of the most beautiful places to enjoy panoramic views. You can see the city far below with Tam Coc at the back and the limestone mountains to the south. After climbing up 500 stone steps, reach the top of the mountain with stunning views of the countryside and Ngo Dong River.

Descend and cycle to Hoa Lu, the former capital of the ancient Vietnamese Kingdom called Dai Co Viet in the 10th century. Hoa Lu was the capital for 41 years before King Ly Thai To moved it to Thang Long (Ha Noi today) in 1010. Since then Hoa Lu has been regarded as an ancient capital home to a number of temples and relic sites of Vietnam..

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, your private vehicle will take you back to Ha Noi.

Check-in to your hotel. Rest of the time at your leisure.

Overnight in Hanoi.
 

Breakfast at the hotel. 

11:00. Check-out. 

Free time until your tour guide and vehicle arrive to take you to Noi Bai International airport for your departure flight. 

End of services.
 

Yes. A single supplement is available with a surcharge fee. If you're a solo traveller, please contact us for more information. 

Yes, all visitors to Vietnam must be covered by a minimum of travel medical insurance with a liability of US$10,000 or more for COVID-19 treatment. A more robust travel insurance policy for a trip to Vietnam is optional, but highly recommended due to the unpredictable nature of international travel.

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Yes. Travel Health Insurance covering Covid-19 is mandatory. To enter Vietnam, you must show evidence of health or travel insurance that covers COVID-related medical care up to a minimum of US$10,000 for the duration of your visit. Failure to produce this may result in being refused entry to the country.

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