5D4N Northern Vietnam Itinerary (BACKPACKING)

I backpacked around North Vietnam last year for 5D 4N, in an attempt to explore the best of Halong, Sapa, and a little of Hanoi. After some thorough research, I came up with an itenary that will absolutely SERVE if you are an adventurer looking for a backpacking friendly itenary for your next trip to North Vietnam. 🇻🇳🎒

Here is the rough outline of the itinerary 📅

DAY 1: Flight to Hanoi - Take coach to Halong

DAY 2: Halong Bay and Take Sleeper bus to Sapa

DAY 3: Explore Sapa, overnight in Sapa

DAY 4: Explore villages of Sapa, overnight bus back to Hanoi

DAY 5: Flight back to Singapore

I hope you can see how this itenary is hella hectic, because it meant that on day 2 and day 4, my accommodation was the sleeper bus!!! HAHAHA (not the most ideal but you do get to save on accommodations…) The only catch is that on some days, the bus would reach our destination at 3-5am, which basically leaves you stranded with NO accoms unless you decide to book a place only to check in near dawn (not very worth) Luckily, life in Vietnam starts pretty early, so at 4am, you can see people starting work at the morning markets etc which makes for quite a unique travel experience.

DAY 1️⃣: (TRANSIT TO HALONG) ✈️🚐

⁃ Arrive in Hanoi at 12pm

⁃ Grab some lunch from airport

⁃ Take a grab to the coach boarding place which in my case was 55 Dương Đình Nghệ, Yên Hoà, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội

⁃ Reach Bai Chay Bus station at Halong

⁃ Try out some streetfood (I got a bowl of pho for $1 but it came with extra protein of ants inside, so be alert of the food hygiene standards here!)

⁃ Check into airbnb and stay for the night (Link to my airbnb - Gives you a pretty cute local experience)

DAY 2️⃣: (BAY CHAY BEACH, HALONG BAY, TRANSIT TO SAPA) 🏝️⛴️

⁃ Chill at Bay Chay Beach (Don’t get your hopes and expectations too high though)

⁃ Hop onto a ferry at Ha Long Bay. I booked my tour from the area itself (The locals in the area have many contacts for touristy stuff like this so you don’t have to worry about not rebooking)

⁃ Explore Ha Long Bay and the surrounding islands

⁃ Go back to accoms to get belongings

⁃ Head to Bay Chay bus station to take overnight sleeper bus to Sapa (You can book online through www.baolau.com/en in advance though you will have to pay a small commissionn fee but you get to have a peace of mind. Bookings can also be made through some bus agencies when you arrive in Vietnam but would not recommend because of the heavy language barrier TBH)

DAY 3️⃣: (LOVE WATERFALL, SILVER WATERFALL, MOUNT FANSIPAN) 🌊🗻

TIP IN SAPA: Ask your hotel/ homestay owner to call a cab for you whenever you want to go somewhere because its literally IMPOSSIBLE to call a grab there. Alternatively, flag a taxi down if you see it)

⁃ Arrive in Sapa before dawn at 4am and take a taxi to hotel/homestay in Sapa, leave bags there (Choose a hotel if you want a more luxurious stay, I splurged a stay in Paos Sapa Leisure Hotel which is apparently one of the most luxurious there but you can choose a more affordable option or do a homestay at one of the villages like Lao Chai village or Ta Van village for a more authentic experience)

⁃ Visit Love Waterfall and Silver Waterfall (Involves a bit of hiking)

⁃ Grab lunch at Good Morning View Restaurant and head back to accoms for a short rest

⁃ Stop by one of the shops for a little massage

⁃ Take a tram and cable car up to Mount Fansipan (Absolute highlight of the trip as the views was beautiful)

⁃ Grab dinner at one of the many restaurants in Sapa Town although I went back to Good Morning View Restaurant for a wonderful hotpot meal after a hectic hiking day

⁃ Rest at accoms

DAY 4️⃣: (TA VAN, LAO CHAI, CAT CAT VILLAGE, SAPA TOWN) 🥾🏞️🏘️

⁃ Book a tour to explore the Ta Van and Lao Chai village - Less touristy but do note that it involves quite a lot of trekking up and down

⁃ Book another tour to explore Cat Cat Village - More touristy but SOOOO beautiful, involves quite a bit of stairs climbing

⁃ Come back to accoms to watch sunset (The hotel I stayed had a beautiful view of rice paddy fields and mount fansipan)

⁃ Head down to Sapa Town

⁃ Grab dinner at Good Morning Vietnam at Sapa Town

⁃ Massage at Sapa Town

⁃ Come back to accoms to grab bags

⁃ Head to Sleeper bus meeting point to take a sleeper bus back to Hanoi

DAY 5️⃣: (FLOWER MARKET/MAUSOLEUM, CAFE, FLIGHT) 💐🏛️☕️🛫

⁃ Arrive in Hanoi at 5am in the morning

⁃ Option to

1. Explore Quang Ba Flower Market which opens early in the morning OR

2. Emplore Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and the changeover of soldiers parrade

⁃ Chill and rest at Xofa Café & Bistro (A 24h cafe where you can rest from the lack of sleep from the previous night… HAHA)

⁃ Walk down to the Hanoi Train Street to explore the area

⁃ Take a grab to airport for flight back to SG

And that’s basically it!! A 5D 4N itenary in Northern Vietnam, which is probably as hectic as a backpacking itenary can get because remember, while you’re doing all these fun activities, unless you have checked in or left your backpack in the hotel or airbnb, you basically have to carry your heavyass backpack around….

And that’s it!! Modify the itinerary according to your needs and I hope it is helpful :)

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