10 destinations where you can experience Northern Vietnam off the beaten track

Ha Giang Province

All but isolated from the rest of the country until the 1970s, you often hear Ha Giang described as Vietnam’s ‘final frontier’. The northern part of the province forms a natural land border with China and is characterised by soaring mountains, steep ravines, and the incredible Dong Van Karst Plateau.

Ha Giang is typically navigated by tracing the Dong Van Loop, a circuitous route that leads motorbike riders through some of Vietnam’s most majestic landscapes. It’s well worth stopping off in villages to indulge in some of the best trekking Vietnam has to offer.

Overall, Ha Giang is yet to be touched by the heavy hand of tourism – but things are changing fast, and Dong Van is poised to become the next Sapa. Now might be your last opportunity to experience Ha Giang’s ethnic minority markets and family-run homestays. If you do decide to visit, make sure to d rop us a note.

Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai Province)

If you’ve seen those jaw-dropping photos of rice terraces in Vietnam, there’s a good chance they were snapped in or around Mu Cang Chai. You’d be hard pressed to find fields on this scale anywhere else in the country.

Rendered in shades of bottle green or wattle yellow depending on the time of year, the towering terraces are a weather beacon for the changing seasons and different stages of the rice harvest. What happens out here dictates the fortunes of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese farmers.

Because of its remote location, Mu Cang Chai District receives relatively few tourists. But if it’s sublime hiking in complete solitude that you’re after, it’s worth the trek.

Detian Waterfalls (Ban Gioc – Cao Bang Province)

Indisputably the most majestic waterfall in Vietnam, the Detian cascades (AKA Ban Gioc falls) are located on the Vietnam-China border in north-east Cao Bang Province.

The waterfalls appear vastly different depending on what time of year you go: In the dry season, there are two distinct waterfalls but in the wet season, the deluge gives the appearance of one giant cascade. The 30-metre sheer drop makes this the fourth largest waterfall along a national border after Victoria Falls, Niagara and Iguazu.

Nearby Cao Bang city is a great base to explore the Detian falls and other smaller waterfalls and lakes in the area.

Da Bac (Hoa Binh Province)

A few years ago, three communities in Da Bac District, Hoa Binh Province formed an alliance to bring tourists to their villages. Their project, Da Bac Community-Based Tourism, is a perfect example of how alternative tourism can thrive. Travel with Leon was honored to be chosen to help this project expand and develop.

Visitors to Da Bac can enjoy homestays, delicious home-cooked meals, trekking, water sports (two of the villages have access to the Da Bac River and lake), and cultural activities. Or you could simply help Travel with Leon expanding the “A Reader today – A Leader tomorrow” project by teaching local children English or inspire them with your stories (in English of course).

Da Bac is visited by some group tours, mainly Vietnamese locals, but it’s still very much considered to be off the beaten track. Families here need support from global-minded travellers like you in order to keep their project afloat. If you’re interested in giving back to ethnic communities while you’re in Vietnam, Da Bac is the perfect place to do it.

Thai Nguyen Province

Most people associate Vietnam with coffee. But before French colonisation, it was a tea-drinking nation. Thai Nguyen Province, just 2hours north of Hanoi, is the hub of the country’s tea industry and grows much of the green tea that Vietnam exports. You can find packets of loose leaf bearing the province’s name all over Hanoi and Northern Vietnam.

There are dozens of privately owned tea plantations located close to Thai Nguyen city, itself a modest urban area. Owners welcome guests to sit down for a tea tasting before walking them through the fields to watch the pickers at work.

Travel with Leon partnered up with a local private-own tea plantation to offer authentic experiences including hiking, camping and making your own tea with your name on it.

Nam Dinh Province

Now there’s a sight we bet you weren’t expecting in Northern Vietnam. Nam Dinh Province, which stretches all the way to the Gulf of Tonkin through the fertile Red River Delta, is famous for its high concentration of Roman Catholic churches. This was the first place missionaries to Vietnam landed in the 1500s, thus Nam Dinh is known as the country’s cradle of Catholicism.

Many of Nam Dinh’s churches are still used by the Catholic community today. Others have been abandoned and left to nature. The architecture in this part of the country is a revelation and something not many tourists get a chance to see.

The most impressive cathedral of the bunch lies in Hai Ly commune. The 1943-built St. Maria Madalena was originally constructed inland, but because of coastal erosion, is now perched precariously on the shoreline.

Diem Dien Salt Flast (Thai Binh Province)

You’ve probably heard about Cambodia’s salt pans in Kampot and the Hon Khoi salt fields in Nha Trang, but did you know salt is harvested in Northern Vietnam, too?

It may be one of the country’s poorest provinces, but Thai Binh is a real gem. Located close to Hanoi on the train line to Ninh Binh, the traditional industry along the coastline in villages such as Diem Dien is sea salt.

Every day, hundreds of workers descend on the burnished fields to harvest basket loads of crystals. A visit to Diem Dien and the other salt villages in Thai Binh provides some unique photo opportunities. It’s also a window onto one of Vietnam’s most gruelling industries and the lives of those who toil on the salt fields to supply our pantry staples.

Lan Ha Bay (Quang Ninh Province)

An alternative to touristy Halong Bay and budding Bai Tu Long Bay, Lan Ha Bay is a more obscure base for exploring the waters off Northern Vietnam’s coast. The landscape of karst rock formations is almost identical, yet junk boats are far and few between, which means the area is much quieter and less polluted.

Another advantage Lan Ha has over Halong is the multitude of white-sand beaches that crest several of the larger rocky islands. Kayaking, snorkelling and swimming are all available, either as part of a day excursion or a longer overnight stint.

It’s less common to spend a night on the water here: Instead, many people choose to bunk down at a rural homestay or island bungalow.

Thac Ba Lake (Yen Bai Province)

Located roughly halfway between Hanoi and Sapa, Thac Ba Lake is a man-made lake that was created in the 1970s by way of a hydroelectric dam.

When viewed on Google Maps, the lake looks like a mottled mess. Those jagged blots are actually hundreds of individual islands – 1,300 to be precise – covered in shaggy forest.

Homestays around the lake and in the nearby city of Yen Bai offer boat tours and other water activities for tourists. Vu Linh, a stilted village on the lake, is a nice place to base your stay.

Hanoi

Even if you’re trying to avoid Northern Vietnam’s hotspots, a few days in Hanoi is an absolute must for every first-time visitor or even return traveller. We call this hectic city our home and are proud to share all its secret with you!

There are plenty of residential areas and historic suburbs where you can escape the chaos of the Old Quarter. Equally, there are a limitless number of ‘secret’ spots hidden right in plain sight – such as Long Bien Bridge and ‘banana island’ – which evade most tourists’ radars. Enjoy a day on our secret Travel with Leon island right in the middle of the Red River, try an SUP (standup paddle board) or ride a horse through the banana planations!