Kayak on Ha Long Bay in Vietnam

Vietnam Adventure Tour: Kayaking, Hiking & Cycling Through Amazing Landscapes

Ratings of Zicasso's Service
Customizable Itinerary

This is a sample itinerary to inspire a personalized trip designed with your travel specialist

Countries Visited

Vietnam

Places Visited

Sapa, Bac Ha, Can Cau Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba

Suggested Duration

9 Days

Adventure is within the hills and the water on this 9-day trip through Vietnam that will take you along the hills terraced with rice paddies and a bay strewn with over 1,000 islands. For the active and adventurous, the explorers and wanderers, you will spend your time within the tremendous hillsides of north Vietnam cycling along undulating mountains in the Lao Cai region and kayaking within the emerald waters of Ha Long Bay. The endless wonder is within the adventurous routes, beautiful landscape,...

Customizable Itinerary

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Trip Highlights

  • Experience a kayak tour through the exquisite landscape of Ha Long Bay 
  • Visit the cultural markets in the Lao Cai region, where hill tribes continue to live in traditional ways 
  • Wind through the northern mountains of Vietnam on a bicycle tour
  • Trek through the iconic rice paddy terraces around Sapa 
  • Visit the ancient culture of the floating fishing villages of Ha Long Bay 
  • Discover the vast history and celebrated culture of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city

Detailed Description

Let adventure guide you through the mountains and waters of Vietnam on this custom tailored tour meant to stimulate your heart and your thoughts. Filled with the unparalleled landscape within North Vietnam, you will witness the picturesque mountains brushed with morning mist and the local markets brimming with colorful harvest. Venture through the fabulous landscape of Ha Long Bay and experience a floating village whose ancestry dates back millennia. Best visited when timed with the Saturday Market at Can Cau, rest assured that from Hanoi to Sapa your heart will race from excitement, joy, adventure, and more. 

Your active tour of Vietnam begins with your arrival in Hanoi, the capital city. The grandeur of the streets sits within the city’s ability to combine its past and present without encroachment, from opulent lakes to immaculate high-rises. Tour through the city to find the wonder of the old neighborhoods, from the Old Quarter to Hoan Kiem Lake, each one giving you a sense of calm within their energetic inhabitants. Make your way north into the Lao Cai Region on a comfortable overnight train, arriving in time for the Saturday Market where the surrounding tribes bring colorful textiles and fresh produce to trade, sell, and buy. 

Your cycle tour begins within the hills around Lao Cai, stretching through the grand mountains and coming to Bac Ha. The following day you will visit the Sunday Market of Bac Ha filled with a variety of gregarious villagers from the surrounding mountains before riding to Ban Pho for lunch and tea with a local family, returning to Bac Ha in the evening. Once in Sapa you will spend two days trekking along the stunning landscape, experiencing the hospitality of the local Dzao people before returning by overnight train to Hanoi and continuing onward to Ha Long Bay. Once along the bay you will be ferried to the secluded camp on the shores outside of Cat Ba Island. Traverse the emerald waters on a kayak, meeting the local floating village tribe, and venturing beneath naturally carved tunnels along the way. You’ll spend two days enjoying the surrounding beauty. The following day you will have a private transfer to the airport to make the journey home. 

Related information: Zicasso offers a variety of package tours to Vietnam. For even more information, read the section about travel agents for Vietnam.

Starting Price

$2,700 per person (excluding international flights)

Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.

What's Included

  • Accommodations
  • In-country transportation
  • Some or all activities and tours
  • Expert trip planning
  • 24x7 support during your trip

Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.

Reviews of Zicasso's Referral Service

4.85 stars based on 630 reviews.

Vietnam Travel Review: Cruise, Wellness Retreat, History,...

The trip was well organized by Zicasso's travel company. We had nice hotel accommodations we liked the guides a lot.

Reviewed By Guillermina M.

Vietnam Travel Review: Hanoi, Saigon, Ha Long Bay, Vespa...

Amazing! Zicasso's travel agent worked with my son and me to plan the perfect trip in celebration of his college graduation. She arranged for friendly and knowledgeable tour guides and went out of her way to ensure we were happy.

Reviewed By Jennifer S.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore Travel Review: Lan...

We had an amazing, nearly three-week trip throughout Southeast Asia. Zicasso's tour operators did an incredible job planning all of the details of the trip. In general, I am not easily impressed and I tend to be pretty upfront with my criticism. In this case, I was truly impressed. I really don't have any criticism about the whole experience.

This was a very complicated trip, with eight cities/locations and six internal flights. We had great communication in the months and weeks leading up to the trip. They were receptive to all of our requests and they gave very good advice when we had questions.

All of the guides were great. The hotels were amazing and all of the details of the activities, transfers, and internal flights were well thought out and well coordinated. I was so impressed by their attention to detail. They were also willing to be flexible and able to make changes, even during the trip. I was able to reach them throughout the trip by WhatsApp and they responded quickly every time. I would recommend them wholeheartedly.

Reviewed By Jeffrey W.

Vietnam, Cambodia Tour Review: Ha Long Bay, Angkor Wat,...

We traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia from May 8 to 22, 2025. This was my fifth trip through Zicasso. As expected, the itinerary was excellent and exactly what we were looking for. I did double my budget from what I initially sent to Zicasso.

All of the lodging selections were outstanding. Along with the tours of the Ho Chi Minh complex, Hue Imperial City, the Angkor Wat complex, and numerous other temples and pagodas, we experienced a cable car ride to a mountain summit, a walk through an ethnic village, a water puppet show, a Cambodian circus, a Vietnamese cooking class, an evening lantern boat ride in Hoi An, and dinner in one of the top 50 restaurants in Asia. The water puppets are an ancient Vietnamese art (11th century) and the show was extraordinary.  

Reviewed By Marcia H.

Vietnam, Cambodia Trip Review: Food Tour, Art, History,...

Zicasso's travel specialist arranged a wonderful trip and was extremely responsive to our interest in all art forms, culture, cuisine, and the American war in Vietnam. She was very receptive to revisions, even during the trip.

Reviewed By Marlene H.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore Tour Review: Khmer...

Zicasso’s travel agency worked patiently with us over several months to organize a perfect four-country tour through Indochina, doing exactly what we asked, including a Khmer cooking class with a local chef.  

We were met on arrival in each county by an experienced English-speaking guide who was well-versed in the history, geography, and culture of each location, and they were just delightful people too. They took us to rural villages and through urban mazes to get a close look at the daily life of the citizens. We chatted with farmers in the field and had meals in local homes. Our agency booked amazing hotels for each stop, from an eco-lodge in the mountains of Vietnam to a spectacular seaside resort in Thailand. 

We had contact names and numbers for agency representatives in each country. They were incredibly responsive, even after hours, when we had a small medical issue. They gave us a completely seamless experience from arrival to departure, with no wasted time. Vacation time is very precious, so we prefer to work with professionals who know the area intimately and take the time to understand our objectives rather than pushing a canned itinerary.

Reviewed By David H.

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