1. Hanoi: The capital of Vietnam, it was the Citadel of many dynasties and until now there are several architectural built by these dynasties still stalked as the proud of Vietnam. The Temple of literature is an example also knows as the first university of Vietnam which was opened to educate the royal. Beside that, Hochiminh mausoleum – rest place of the greatest hero of Vietnam – Uncle Ho, the one was admired by millions of people in Vietnam and other countries in the world.Ethnographic and women’s museum are places that you can understand the culture as well as the life living of minorities of Vietnam and the brave heart of the Vietnamese woman who contribute their works, their life to the independent and development of Vietnam; The old quarter is featured by 36 old streets, the streets name was settle related with the commodities that people was selling before. Now it’s crowded and mixed by a lot of tourists come here every day so it’s loosing its nature ancient. Lake is something really special in Hanoi, inside the town there are a lot of lakes but the famous one is Hoan Kiem (sword return) lake linked with the Legend – Le Loi a King under the Le Dynasty who achieved victory thanks to the help of the sword – given by the metal turtle god. If you are someone who beliefs in Buddha, surely you must go and see the One Pillar and Tran Quoc (National defending) pagoda. Its worth to take a walk a long Long Bien Bridge(was built by the France) to see the red river, see the teenagers take the photos and the vendors try to sell their water and food. Street foods in Hanoi are amazing; it’s delicious, cheap and very local taste. If you have plenty of time, you can go around watch the water puppet show or spend time to walk around the night market to feel the noisy, the chaos of this busy city.

Out of Hanoi: What to see?

Tay Phuong Pagoda, also known as Sung Phuc Pagoda, consists of three single-level structures built in descending order on a hillock that is said to resemble a buffalo. Figures representing ‘the conditions of man’ are the pagoda’s most celebrated feature – carved from jackfruit wood, many date from the 18th century. The earliest construction dates from the 8th century.

Take the steep steps up to the main pagoda building, then find a path at the back that loops down past the other two pagodas and wander through the adjacent hillside village.

Bavi national park: Formerly a French hill station, the triple-peaked Ba Vi Mountain (Nui Ba Vi) has been attracting visitors for decades and remains a popular weekend escape for Hanoians. The limestone mountain is now part of the Ba Vi National Park which has several rare and endangered plants in its protected forest, mammals including two species of rare ‘flying’ squirrel, and bountiful bird life.

2. Sapa: 8 hours on train and 30 minutes on a bus, you will stand at a beautiful town – Sapa, a small town inside the rolling hills. The Ham Rong mountain located right in town, It takes about two hours to climb up and down; along the way you can enjoy the beauty of plenty flowers, it’s totally incredible if you climb the mountain in spring, you will feel the heaven right under your feet.  From Sapa you can trek to the minorities village where you can witness the real daily life of Zao, H’mong, Tay’s ethnic, you also can blend with the local by experience the ethnics homestay – that will be the special experience that you want to tell your friends. By trekking to the minorities villages, you will pass through impressive terraced rice paddies on the hill slopes, getting through  bamboo forest, and the waterfall, you will immersed your self in nature, feel comfortable as you are far away from your daily life activities. If you are kind of travelers who love adventure, Fansifan peak must be your priority option. The good time for the journey is on October or November, the weather is changing hour by hour, sometime you can catch the sunshine in the middle of the mountain, but when you heading the top, the cloud and fog cover the entire peak; do you want to join a small festive event of ethnic? Well Bac Ha Market in Sunday morning is totally an excellent idea. This is one of the most interesting ethnic markets in Vietnam and possibly everywhere in South East Asia.

3. Ha Long Bay: The seven wonder of the world. About 3.5 hours by bus away from Hanoi. A little bit disappointed when you get out the car, because the sea water and the beach don’t look nice, and it seems dirty that no tourist can swim. But once you step on a cruise, go to the Bay, what you see will be in a difference world: Blue water with a lot of beauty and nature limestone. You can see the fish; the jellyfish are swimming right under the cruise room’s window.  When night comes, you can see the stars, the sea-sight from your own room. And you won’t regret when wake up early in the morning and enjoy the dawn with sun slowly rise from the deck. What you should not miss here is kayaking in the bay for several hours, you- yourself can kayak discover every corner of the bay in the quite water. Visit the fishing village to witness the daily life of fisher man, and you can fishing and cooking the seafood by your own idea. If you interested in discovery the caves, Ha long Bay is a great place for you to do that. Each cave has its all beauty features. Out of dozen caves in Ha Long Bay, The highlight caves that you must to visit are: the Grotto of the Wooden Stakes (Hang Dau Go), Grotto of the Heavenly palace (Dong Thien Cung), Starling cave (Hang Sung Sot). To get away from foreign tourist area, you can either choose Quan Lan or Koto Island – wild, nature, totally suit for the travelers who love discovery.

4. Ninh Binh: Consider as a Ha Long Bay in land. As you already know Agriculture is the mainstream economic of Vietnam, so why don’t you take a trip to this country side to see how people growth rice and other grains, cycling around Ninh Binh you will see the spacious green rice fields interleaving with a lot of Limestone Mountains. There is plenty of scenery that you can visit at this land: For the one who admire the religious, they should go to see decent Bai Dinh Pagoda and the ancient stone church Phat Diem . There is an ecotourism near Bai Dinh Pagoda called Trang An , This place allows you to sit on a small boat with 6 people, go around the river, visit the caves, enjoy the cool weather – but note that the caves look not beauty as the caves in Ha Long Bay or in Phong Nha Ke Bang (middle of the country). Far away from Ninh Binh town, Cuc Phuong national park – the vast natural museum, richest limestone mountain keeping and feeding animal and plant. The natural protected area Van Long and the thermae Kenh Ga is worth a day to Visit too. Van Long is a fascinating landscape and knowing as the " no wave Bay " as you go on a boat you'll find flat water like a giant mirror ; thermae s tream flow from the heart of the mountain loacated on a floating village named Kenh Ga.   The stream has high concentrations of sodium chloride salt , muriate of potash , canxiclorua , magieclorua and bicarbonate salts . The water in streams colorless , odorless , slightly tart taste and has a s table temperature is 53 ° C. Another place you should not miss in Ninh Binh is Tam Coc – Bich Dong , Tam Coc has many winding and arduous cave s beautiful as Penglai scene , Bich Dong was named as the South celestial II , after the First South Celestial Huong Tich . In the caves still remain many , many precious artifacts such as stone and two strange dragons stone , when flap in, the sound emitted like a bass guitar sound and a high negative sound. The famous dish of Ninh Binh is grilled goat. Once you head to Ninh Binh, try grilled goat or you will regret.

5. Mai Chau : Mai Chau located about 130km from Hanoi to the northwest, is the ideal destination for thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every year. Go here, as tourists from a life of hustle, struggle daily to come to the land of peace, cool climate, friendly people, sociable. If you don’t have much time to go to Sapa, one day/night to Mai chau is one special option that you can visit and witness the daily life of minority villages , experience home stay, enjoy ethnic foods. The funniest activity in Mai Chau is campfire in the evening . A big fire accompany with sound system outside the door in the foothills will make you fully entertained like never happen before.   Do not forget to bring the little corn, potatoes; sugar cane would be great for baking. You can buy a pig with approximately $20 1kg. Normally a pig weighing about 10kg is enough for about 20 to 30 servings. You can also order a chicken soup for evening eating. Also, those who have obtained artistic fun can also sing, dance “XAP”, spreading dance. In Mai Chau, tourist can comfortably take nice photos with souvenir items there but did not have to buy anything at all. If you prefer, you can also hire ethnic colorful dresses , brilliant for photography with very cheap price around $1 to $2.

6. Moc Chau: Moc Chau Plateau is situated at an altitude of 1050m over sea level and about 190 km from Hanoi to the northwest in the direction of Highway 6 ( Ha Noi - Hoa Binh - Moc Chau ). This plateau is about 80 km long , 25 km wide , with 1600 hectares of pasture.In the middle of the plateau is a microclimate with cool summer , temperatures average 20 degrees Celsius and drier winter than in other regions . You can either take a bus from Hanoi to Moc Chau or biking along the highway 6. Before you go, a t least you should be prepared candies to give the minorities children. There are several places that you would love to visit. The first one is:   “ the Loong Luong’’ located on Highway 6 with the vast forest of peach , plum , visit here in the end of January and begin of February you will see the blooming of peach and plum spreading the forest ; “Tan Lap” commune and “Ban On” have many wild sunflowers fields and poinsettias fields . Beside that you will find a lot of green tea hills and yellow wild sunflowers blooming spread the hillside . One nice thing about Mai chau is the ideal destination for many marrying couples goes there to take the wedding photos. The specialty foods in Mai chau are the quick sautéed veal, buffalo meat stewed with the sour leaves (around $2.5 per bowl), chicken hills, streams fish and fresh, sweet and green vegetables…

These destinations are all the must see places in the north of Vietnam. It takes about two weeks to cover enough all these mentioned. Each place has its all features – the unique one. Come to north of Vietnam, you will be surprised by not only the beautiful scene of the area that has typically 4 reasons with their all style and unique in each season, but also the friendly people, special culture and delicious foods.

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