Stay in a bungalow or 3–4★ hotel
Spend a night in Ninh Binh: Hoa Lu, Tam Coc and Mua Cave on day one, then choose your second day — Bai Dinh and Trang An, Thung Nham Bird Valley, or Cuc Phuong National Park.
Pick-up from your hotel in Hanoi's Old Quarter or the Opera House area, then depart for Ninh Binh. Exact pick-up time depends on your hotel location.
Short 15–20 minute rest stop on the way.
Visit Hoa Lu, Vietnam's ancient capital from 968 to 1010, and learn about the Dinh, Le and Ly dynasties. Then cycle through the surrounding village to see local life up close.
Buffet lunch at a spacious local restaurant with Ninh Binh specialities — goat meat, spring rolls, fish, chicken, fried rice and fresh salads. Vegetarian dishes are always available.
A 1.5-hour bamboo boat ride through Tam Coc, gliding past rice paddies, limestone peaks and river caves — the landscape locals call “Ha Long Bay on land”.
Continue to Mua Cave (Dragon Peak). Climb almost 500 steps to the top of Lying Dragon Mountain for a sweeping panoramic view over Tam Coc and, in summer, the lotus fields below.
Check in to your bungalow or hotel and relax (pool available in summer at many properties).
Dinner, then an evening stroll around Tam Coc. Overnight in Ninh Binh.
Breakfast, then check out.
Transfer to Bai Dinh Pagoda.
Visit Bai Dinh, one of the largest Buddhist complexes in Southeast Asia, home to 500 stone Arhat statues, a 36-tonne bronze bell and a 100-tonne bronze Buddha.
Buffet lunch at a spacious local restaurant with Ninh Binh specialities — goat meat, spring rolls, fish, chicken, fried rice and fresh salads. Vegetarian dishes are always available.
A 2-hour boat journey through Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014, known for its remarkable network of water caves and tunnels.
Return to Hanoi.
Drop-off at your hotel. Tour ends.
Breakfast at your hotel.
Cycle with your guide to Thai Vi Temple and Bich Dong Pagoda, often called the second most beautiful cave in Vietnam.
Check out and enjoy lunch with local specialities. Vegetarian options available.
Thung Nham Bird Valley: take a small sampan into Hang But (Buddha Cave), about 500 m long, with a Buddha-shaped stalactite beside an underground river, then visit a tropical fruit orchard. In the late afternoon, paddle quietly through the valley as thousands of birds from around 40 species return to roost.
Return to Hanoi.
Drop-off at your hotel. Tour ends.
Breakfast, then set off for Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam's first national park (founded in 1962), about 100 km south-west of Hanoi.
Endangered Primate Rescue Center, a non-profit that rescues, breeds and protects endangered primates.
Lunch with local dishes, then a short trek into the old-growth forest and a visit to the Cave of Prehistoric Man.
Return to Hanoi.
Drop-off at your hotel. Tour ends.