Hanoi – Ha Long Bay – Quang Phu Cau – Ninh Binh
The northern classics, with the bay given two days instead of one. You board at Tuan Chau after midday on day two and stay the night on the water: sunset from the sundeck, dinner on deck, Tai Chi at 06h00 and Sung Sot Cave before brunch the next morning. Back on land there is a full day with the lacquer, conical hat and incense makers, and a day in Ninh Binh for Hoa Lu, Trang An and the steps up Mua Cave.
Day 1
A private car meets your flight and takes you to the hotel. At 13h30 your guide calls at the Old Quarter and the rest of the afternoon is walking. From 13h40 it is Hoan Kiem Lake and Nam Huong Temple, with the story of King Le returning the sword and the preserved turtle on display, then The Huc Bridge across to Ngoc Son Temple if you want it. At 14h30 the cathedral: the French Gothic front, a banh mi from the stall beside it, sugarcane juice or a street coffee, and half an hour for the small shops nearby. Train Street from 15h20, standing well back if the timetable holds. The walk ends there at 16h00.
Meals: No meals included
Day 2
The limousine leaves the hotel at 08h00. You reach the check-in lounge on Tuan Chau Island at 11h45 and board at 12h15, with a welcome drink while the cruise manager runs through the route and the safety briefing. Lunch at 13h00 as the boat heads southeast through the bay, past the Fighting Cock and the Finger. At 14h45 you go out by kayak or bamboo boat to Luon Cave or the pearl farm, and at 16h00 to Titop Island, to swim or to walk up to the lookout. Back on board at 17h30 for the sunset party, happy hour at the bar until 19h00, then dinner on deck under the stars.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3
Tai Chi on the sundeck at 06h00 while the sun comes up over the bay, then a light breakfast at 07h00. At 08h00 you go ashore for Sung Sot Cave, one of the biggest in Ha Long Bay, its stalactites and stalagmites shaped over millions of years, and the bay opens out below you as you come back through the exit. On board again at 09h30 to check out while the boat returns to Tuan Chau. Brunch is served at 10h00, you step off at Tuan Chau Marina at 10h45, and the limousine takes you back to Hanoi. Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the day.
Meals: Breakfast, brunch
Day 4
Pick-up at the Old Quarter between 07h45 and 08h15. Ha Thai comes first, a lacquer village since the seventeenth century, where a well-known artisan explains how the layers are built up and you paint a piece of your own to take home. Then Chuong, three hundred years of conical hat making; depending on who is free that day you sit either with a war veteran or with other makers. A woman artisan cooks lunch in her own house, vegetarian if you ask. Afterwards you decorate a hat or take a turn at one of the stages. Last is Quang Phu Cau: the family workshops, a household that dyes the sticks and fans the bundles out in colour, and the village's largest incense factory. Back in Hanoi between 17h00 and 17h30.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 5
Away at 08h00 for the 110km run south, with a short break on the road. Hoa Lu at 10h15, site of Vietnam's first capital, where the temples of King Dinh and King Le date from the seventeenth century. At 11h30 there are bicycles for an easy stretch along the canal roads and through the villages, limestone hills on every side. Buffet lunch at 12h15, goat meat and fried rice among the local dishes, with vegetarian food always on the table. At 13h00 a rowing boat carries you into Trang An, UNESCO-listed since 2014, through Sang, Toi and Nau Ruou caves. Mua Cave at 15h15: almost 500 steps to the top of Lying Dragon Mountain and Tam Coc below. You start back at 17h15 and reach the hotel at 19h30.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 6
Breakfast at the hotel, check out, and a private car to the airport at whatever hour your flight needs.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 1 runs in two versions: the walk as described, or the same route ending with an egg coffee class at a local coffee house. On board, the evening is free for a spa treatment or the bar, and squid fishing tackle can be borrowed at reception.
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