Sapa markets by train

After a day exploring Hanoi with a guide, spend the evening on an exciting adventure into the mountains. One of the most romantic ways of reaching the remote rural Sapa region is on an elegant overnight train to Lao Cai, a province sitting on the fringes of the Chinese border. Step on board and bunk down in your polished-wood cabin where you’ll be lulled to sleep by the rhythmic motions of the train pulling gently through the landscape.

Taking the slow route pays off as you wake up to outstretched valleys and vibrant green paddy fields. Your train will glide into Lao Cai railway station where you’ll be met by a guide. Then it’s off to a local morning market where you can gaze in awe at the stacks of colourful produce picked from the highlands. After working up an appetite, continue to Sapa stopping for freshly pulled noodles en route. Your hotel sits nestling among the mist-swaddled peaks and exotic gardens. Take it all in with a gin and tonic.

Spend the day exploring Vietnam’s premiere hiking country where there’s an astonishing view at just about every turn. Traverse the Muong Hoa Valley and marvel at cascading emerald rice terraces farmed by the Black Hmong tribes, whose rural way of life has remained unchanged for centuries. Pop into a local school in Ta Van where the children may grace you with a traditional folk song, poetry or story. You have the chance to mingle with these ethnic communities before heading back to relax for your final night at the lodge.

After a leisurely breakfast at your lodge, you are met by your guide who accompanies you on the drive back to Hanoi by private vehicle.