Explore the Nature Trails 11 Days

Day 1: Arrival at Hanoi (D, GP)

Arriving at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You’ll have time to relax before a ‘Welcome’ dinner at a restaurant in a restored French colonial building.

Day 2: Hanoi/Tam Coc/Cuc Phuong (B, L, D, G)

In the morning, you’ll drive to Ninh Binh. On arrival, you’ll visit Tam Coc, the Three Grottos with a pleasant row through rice paddies and caves in a peaceful valley between limestone ‘karst’ mountains.

In the afternoon, you’ll drive to Cuc Phuong Forest National Park to visit the Primate Rescue Centre and the Botanical Garden. Your overnight stay will be in a guesthouse in the Park.

Day 3: Cuc Phuong/Hanoi (B, L, G)

You’ll hike through a subtropical forest, rich in flora and fauna with thousand-year-old trees and dripping vines. On the way back, you’ll visit a cave where prehistoric graves and relics have been found. Later in the afternoon, you’ll drive back to Hanoi.

Day 4: Hanoi/Hue/Bach Ma (B, L, D, G)

Your morning will be free until your car arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport for a noon flight to Hue. On arrival, you will be met and driven to Bach Ma National Park (60 km) for your overnight accommodation in the Park guesthouse, high on the slopes of a mountain.

Day 5: Bach Ma (B, L, D, G)

After an early breakfast and a 500m walk to the summit, you should be able to see the spectacular views and, hopefully, an equally stunning sunrise. From there, the Rhododendron trail and the Five Lakes Cascade trail (6km in total) meander through evergreen forest, cascades and waterfalls. After lunch in a nearby local restaurant, the Pheasant Trail (2.5 km) takes you to a series of waterfalls and crystal-clear pools. You’ll spend the night in the park.

Day 6: Bach Ma/Hue (B, G)

Your morning will be free to wander around the Park before your car arrives to take you back to Hue. You will spend the night in Hue.

Day 8: Ho Chi Minh City/Nam Cat Tien (L, D, G)

In the morning, your driver will take you to Nam Cat Tien National Park. After lunch in the canteen in the park centre, you’ll drive 9 km in a Jeep then hike for three kilometres through the rainforest to Crocodile Lake.

In the evening, you may see the wild animals come to the lake to drink. You’re also likely to see monkeys, deer and other small mammals. You will spend the night in the park guesthouse near the Crocodile Lake.

Day 9: Nam Cat Tien (B, L, D, G)

In the morning, you will have a pre-dawn visit to the lake, you’ll have another opportunity to spy on the park’s wildlife. After that, you’ll hike back to the main road and drive seven kilometres westwards for another one-kilometre hike along the forest trail to the giant Ficus Tree which covers over two hectares.

Fortified by a canteen lunch, a cruise down Dong Nai River on a motor boat takes you to Ta Lai village to visit the farms and houses of S’Tieng and Chau Ma ethnic minorities. You’ll stay overnight in the guesthouse.

Day 10: Nam Cat Tien/Ho Chi Minh City (B, L, G)

In the early morning, you’ll cycle to the nearby Ben Cu area. After wandering around the massive trees, dripping vines, and visiting the rapids (water level permitting) it’ll be time for lunch in the canteen and your return to Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 11: Ho Chi Minh City departure (B, DP)

Your time will be your own until your private car and driver arrives to take you to Tan Son Nhat airport for your departure flight.