Walking in northern Vietnam: Pu Luong, the Muong Hoa valley and Ha Giang
Trekking in northern Vietnam is a phrase that oversells what the walking actually is, and undersells how good it is. There are no passes to cross, no altitude to worry about and no need for technical kit. What there is instead is terraced valley walking between villages, on paths that people use to
Anyone who walks regularly at home can do all of it. The difficulty is heat, humidity and mud, not gradient. Here is where the walking is genuinely worth the days, and what each area is really like.
Pu Luong, the best short walking in the north
Pu Luong is a nature reserve of terraced valleys, stilt houses and bamboo water wheels about four hours by road from Hanoi. It is the answer we give most often when someone asks for walking without giving up a week.
The walking. Day routes of 5 to 9 miles (8 to 15 km) between villages, along irrigation channels and terrace edges, with climbs of 1,000 to 1,600 feet (300 to 500 m) on the bigger days. Ban Hieu, Kho Muong with its cave, and the ridge walk above Don village are the ones we use. Nothing is technical, some of it is slippery after rain, and all of it can be shortened.
Where you sleep. Pu Luong has the best lodges in the northern mountains: valley-facing, with pools, at a standard that Ha Giang does not offer. That combination, real walking in the morning and a pool in the afternoon, is why we send families and mixed-fitness groups here.
How long. Two nights minimum, three if you want three full walking days. It fits neatly onto a Hanoi and bay route without an internal flight.
Mai Chau, the gentle version
An hour beyond Mai Chau’s famous pass, a flat green valley of rice and Thai stilt houses. The walking is easy and much of it is better done by bicycle. It is busier than Pu Luong and less dramatic, and it is the right choice with young children or anyone who wants scenery without effort. One night, or two if the pace of the trip needs it.
The Muong Hoa valley, below Sapa
Sapa town has been overbuilt into something close to a building site, and we say so to everyone who asks for it by name. That is a statement about the town, not about the valley beneath it, which is still one of the great terraced landscapes in Asia.
The walking. Down through Lao Chai, Ta Van and Giang Ta Chai, typically 6 to 10 miles (10 to 16 km) over a day, dropping through terraces to the river and back up. Two-day versions with a night in a village are better, because the valley empties completely after four in the afternoon.
The honest part. This is the most commercialised walking in the country. Groups of women follow visitors from the trailhead and sell at the end of the walk, which some travellers find charming and others find wearing. The way to make it work is to book a guide from one of the village co-operatives, so that the person walking with you is being paid properly and the day has a shape. We do that rather than sending you out from the town square.
Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam at 10,312 feet (3,143 m), is a two-day walk up and a cable car down, or a cable car both ways. The summit now has a large complex on it. If you want the climb, do it for the walking rather than for the top.
Ha Giang, which is a road trip with walks in it
Ha Giang is the finest landscape in northern Vietnam: a 220-mile (350 km) loop through the Dong Van karst plateau, over the Ma Pi Leng pass above the Nho Que river, past markets that are not staged for anyone. It is also, and this matters, mostly a driving or riding trip. The walking is in sections rather than end to end.
What is worth doing on foot. The cliff path along the Ma Pi Leng gorge, an hour out and back above the river. The Du Gia valley, where half days between villages are excellent and almost nobody stops. The old French road sections around Dong Van. And Lung Cu at the northern tip on a clear day.
How you travel between them is a separate question, and an important one: on the back of a bike with an experienced local rider, or in a car with a driver. We will not organise a self-drive motorbike trip, in Ha Giang or anywhere else in Vietnam. The three options are compared in full in motorbike or car in northern Vietnam. Four days minimum for the loop, and it sits inside our Ha Giang and the north route.
Ba Be, if you want quiet
A lake in forested limestone about six hours from Hanoi, with Tay stilt-house villages, a boat morning and forest walks of 4 to 7 miles (6 to 11 km). Far fewer visitors than anywhere above, simpler accommodation, and a good third-week addition rather than a first-trip stop.
What a homestay means now
The word has drifted. A homestay in Pu Luong or Ha Giang can be a family house with mattresses on a stilt-house floor and dinner cooked by the family, or it can be a twenty-room building with private bathrooms and a pool that uses the word for marketing.
Both are fine. They are not the same night, and travellers are regularly disappointed because nobody told them which one they were booked into. We specify exactly what a place is in your itinerary: whether the bathroom is shared, whether there is hot water, whether dinner is with the family or at separate tables. In the real village version, dinner is communal, rice wine is offered and refusing politely takes practice.
Season, which decides everything
October and November are the best walking weeks of the year: dry, clear, in the seventies Fahrenheit (low twenties Celsius), with firm paths.
Late September is the gold fortnight in the terraces of the far north, and it is short and moves each year with the planting.
June gives you the terraces flooded and green, at the price of heat and afternoon storms.
December to February is cold in the mountains, occasionally near freezing at night, and views can sit under cloud for a week. Lodges are not heated to a European standard.
May to August brings landslides after heavy rain, which close roads for hours rather than days, and leeches on wet forest paths. Bring long socks. Our month by month article sets out the wider picture.
Practicalities
Fitness. Regular walking at home is enough for everything described here. No altitude issues anywhere except Fansipan.
Footwear. Trail shoes or light boots with real grip. Terrace edges after rain are slick clay and the most common injury is a simple slip.
Guides. Essential on anything beyond a marked valley path, both for navigation and because the explanation is most of the value. A guide with a car in the north is roughly $80 to $130 a day, and village guides in the valleys cost far less and should be paid through a community arrangement rather than haggled with at a trailhead.
Cost. Walking days are among the cheapest days of a Vietnam trip. The mountain lodges in Pu Luong are the exception and they are worth it. The whole budget picture is in our Vietnam cost article.
Children. Mai Chau from about six, Pu Luong from about eight for the shorter routes, Ha Giang from about twelve because of the hours in a vehicle.
Plan this trip
Tell us how much walking you want and what standard of bed you want at the end of it, and a specialist will build the northern days around that. Free first outline, no obligation.
Keep reading
- Ha Giang and the north, 14 days
- Vietnam, the complete guide to planning your trip
- Motorbike or car in northern Vietnam?
- Vietnam month by month, region by region
- Classic Vietnam in 16 days
- All our Vietnam trips
Frequently asked questions
Is this real trekking?
Pu Luong or Sapa?
How many days of walking should we build in?
Can we walk between villages without a guide?
What about Phong Nha?
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