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'Mix & Match' Tours
§ City of Hanoi
§ Pagodas & History
§ Ha Long Bay & Yen Tu
§ Ancient Capitals
§ Northern Highlands
§ Cao Bang & Lang Son
§ Central Highlands
§ Hue Monuments
§ Cham Discovery
§ Mekong & the South
§ Cu Chi & Tay Ninh
§ Ho Chi Minh City

Tell us about your particular interests, and we'll take you to places only the local guides know. Whether it's active travel, sun worship, study tours, Vietnam War sites, or satisfying your culinary curiosity, Mikeland welcomes a challenge!

Home > "Mix & Match" Tours > Cao Bang & Lang Son

Often overlooked in the standard tour itineraries, the mountains to the north of Hanoi are not only scenic and relatively unspoiled, but rich with history that you won't find in most highland areas.

Day 1: Hanoi – Ba Be
Heading north from Hanoi, you'll pass picturesque tea plantations, terraced rice fields and forested mountains. It's a 240km drive to Ba Be National Park, where you'll find the largest natural mountain lake in Vietnam, surrounded by limestone tropical forests that hold a number of endangered species, such as the White-eared Night Heron.

Just to the west of Ba Be is the Na Hang Nature Reserve, home of the rare Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey (thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1992). Explore the area on foot, taking the Pac Ban Lake walk, following an ecotourism trail, or the Hin Dam Trek Circuit. Late in the afternoon, take a short boat ride on the lake to Pac Ngoi, a cluster of lakeside houses-on-stilts of the Tay tribe. Stroll along the village path and visit local houses. Spend the night at a guest house at the national park.

Day 2: Ba Be – Cao Bang
In the morning, enjoy a boat ride on the Nang River and Lake Ba Be. Explore Puong Cave, Tay tribe villages and Fairy Pond Islet. Discover more about the secrets of evergreen tropical forests. In the afternoon, take a mountainous road winding across beautiful passes (Gio, Tai Sin Ho and Cao Bac) to Cao Bang (130 km). Spend the night in Cao Bang.

Day 3: Excursion to Ban Gioc
Enjoy a full-day trip to the famous waterfalls of Ban Gioc, which lie on the border with China (special travel permit required). Along the way, you'll stop at Phuc Sen, a village of the Nung tribe that has long been famous for making knives, sickles, and shovels at their own forge. Also keep your eyes peeled for the hill-tribe fairs (held every 5 days). If time permits, you'll have a chance to stop at the caves of Nguom Ngao, where magnificent limestone formations are illuminated by colored lights. Return to Cao Bang and stay overnight.

Day 4: Cao Bang – Lang Son
In the morning, you'll drive north to Pac Bo (60km), where you can visit the site of Ho Chi Minh’s base in 1941, when he had just returned to Vietnam to organize the resistance against the French colonial government. In the afternoon, drive south through the highlands to Lang Son (130km), a major commercial gateway between Vietnam and China. Spend the night in Lang Son.

Day 5: Lang Son – Hanoi
For a grand view of the area, climb the footpath up the limestone cliffs that formed a natural fortress. The Mac emperors (16th Century AD) used this as a citadel, and you can still see the stone walls guarding the lower approaches. (After ruling Vietnam from Hanoi for nearly 60 years, the Mac Dynasty was forced to retreat to its mountain strongholds in 1592.) Lang Son is also known for its grotto temples, which are well worth a visit.

On your way back to Hanoi, visit the Chi-Lang Pass (shown at the top of this Web page). The Chi-Lang Pass was the site of great victories against invading armies in 981, 1076, 1285, and 1427. Tour ends in Hanoi in the late afternoon.

• Add our 2-day city tour of Hanoi at the beginning or end of your trip. The Hanoi tour will include a visit to the History Museum, which has many artifacts and displays that explain the importance of places such as the Chi-Lang Pass and the Bach Dang River.
• Our tour of Ha Long Bay, to the east of Hanoi, makes a nice complement to the Cao Bang-Lang Son excursion.
• Can't get enough Highlands? Try our Northern Highlands or Central Highlands tours.