Ban Gioc Waterfall + Ba Be Lake Tour | 3 Days | from HANOI, VIETNAM

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  • Visit the breathtaking Ban Gioc Waterfall on this 3-day tour from Hanoi!
  • Stay with local families and learn about their culture.
  • Visit the incredible natural wonders of Nguom Ngao Cave and Puong Grotto.
  • Experience the real Vietnam as you get off the beaten tourist track.
  • Enjoy a scenic boat trip around Ba Be Lake.
  • Note: Price on Fridays – $249, all other days $359

$249.00


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Ba Be Lake & Ban Gioc Waterfall Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Hanoi – Ba Be National Park
Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

7:30 AM. Our driver and tour guide will pick you up in the early morning from our office in Hanoi and you will begin your journey through North-eastern Vietnam. The drive to the national park is roughly 230 kilometres. On the way, we will make a stop in a local Tay village, where you will get to spend some time learning about their traditions and rice farming. Once you arrive at Ba Be National Park, you will eat lunch then board a boat and head down the Nang River as it winds through wild and rugged landscapes before reaching Puong Grotto, where you can marvel at the impressive stalagmites and stalactites found within. Afterwards, you will continue along the river until you reach Ban Can village where Tay ethnic minority people live on the river bank. Take a walk through the village before getting on a boat which will take you onto Ba Be Lake. Here you will get to visit Widow Island (named for the local legend regarding the lake) and those who wish can go for a refreshing swim in the crystal clear waters. You will end the day in Coc Toc Village, inhabited by the Tay ethnic minority, where you will spend the night in Mr Linh’s Homestay.

Highlights and activities: Ba Be lake, Tay ethnic villages

Day 2

Ba Be National Park – Ban Gioc Waterfall
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

7:30 AM. After enjoying breakfast at the homestay, you will depart for Trung Khanh which lies right on the border with China. Here you will have another chance to meet and interact with the local Nung people living in the village of Phuoc Sen, a mountainous village famous for its traditional blacksmithing. The farming tools made here are an integral part of the lifestyle which is evident in the surrounding rice paddies and fields. Lunch in a local restaurant.

Nestled amongst these amazing landscapes is the breathtaking Ban Gioc Waterfall which spans over 300 meters, split half and half between Vietnam and China. You’ll get some time here to simply take in the amazing atmosphere surrounding the falls, which presents an excellent opportunity for some fantastic photography.

Once you’ve finished at the falls, it’s time to head over to Nguom Ngao Cave, for a very different, but no less impressive natural wonder. The cave stretches for 2,144 meters underground and is brimming with incredible stalactites and stalagmites.

You will then enter Khuoi My, a stone village where you will stay overnight in a homestay constructed in traditional Nung fashion and owned and operated by a local Nung family. Here you can relax and unwind from the day and enjoy a delicious and authentic home-cooked meal.

Highlights and activities: Ban Gioc waterfall, Nguom Ngao cave, Ba Be National Park, ethnic villages

Day 3

Ban Gioc Waterfall – Lang Son – Ha Noi
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

7.30 AM. After breakfast we’ll kick the final day of the tour by continuing your trip into the pass to Dong Dang, stopping to visit Mother’s Temple and Dong Khe – an important historical site where The Battle of Dong Khe was fought during the First Indochina War. In fact, this was the very first battle of the Indochina Wars, and the fighting here took place through September and October 1950, ending in a resounding victory for the Viet Minh.

Transferring you to Lang Son for Lunch then we will start by driving in the direction of the Chinese border for about 3 hours, before stopping at Chi Lang Pass – a 20-km-long gorge created from a narrow valley between two mountains.

This place occupies an important position in Vietnamese history, being the place of many victories against various Chinese invasions over the centuries and millennia, as far back as 981AD. As such it bears the reputation of Vietnam’s strongest citadel and bastion. Here you will have roughly an hour to walk around and explore the area around the Quy Mon Quan Gate, which translates as “The Gate of Monsters”, named for the many invasion forces that would spill through the pass over the course of history only to be beaten back by stalwart Vietnamese defenders.

Highlights and activities: Chi Lang pass, Quy Mon Quan gate, Dong Khe battle site, ethnic villages, and a 3-5km walk

Refund Policy

  • In order to book this experience, you will need to pay a deposit online via South East Asia Backpacker.
  • This deposit is fully refundable if you wish to cancel up until 48 hours before the start of the activity. PLEASE NOTE: This policy refers to the payment made to South East Asia Backpacker at the time of booking. All subsequent payments to the operator of your chosen activity fall under their own refund policy
  • For cancellations made fewer than 48 hours before the start of the activity there is no refund available.
  • You can request a change of date at any time.
  • Date changes are entirely down to the availability of the operator and nothing to do with South East Asia Backpacker. 
  • If your date change is not agreed upon, as long as it is more than 48 hours before the start date you originally made your booking for, your deposit can be refunded in full if you wish to cancel.
  • The remaining payment for the experience is payable directly to the operator.
  • The operator can request the remaining payment via an online payment link or upon arrival at the destination.
  • The refund of the second payment, which goes directly to the operator, is based on the terms and conditions of the operator, over which South East Asia Backpacker have no control.
  • Please see our customer terms and conditions for more information.

What's Included

TOUR PRICE INCLUDES:
• A/C transfer
• Accommodation at homestay
• Experienced English-speaking guide
• Meals as stated in the itinerary (B: Breakfast; L: Lunch; D: Dinner)
• All sightseeing tickets and travel permits on the border
• No extra charge after confirmation
• 24/7 hotline support guaranteed
TOUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
• Personal expenses, tips and gratuities
• Travel insurance
• International & domestic flights and taxes
• Beverage
• Other personal expenses: drinks, souvenirs, etc.

FAQ

What is the group size?

  • The groups are small in size and range from 2-15 people. 

Is there a single supplement fee?

  • Yes. The single supplement cost is US $20.

What to bring:

  • Passport
  • Insect Repellent
  • Suncream
  • Raincoat
  • Sunhat

What to wear:

  • Comfortable outdoor clothes
  • Walking shoes
  • Day pack for hiking 

Do you cater for vegetarians?

  • Yes, please let us know any dietary requirements when booking. 

When is the best time to visit?

  • July to September sees a hot and humid climate whereas October to June brings cooler weather.

Why Book With Us?

Hi, I’m Nikki and I started South East Asia Backpacker in 2008 after my own first solo backpacking trip! My vision was to create a travel diary for everyone, a place for travellers to share their experiences from the road. After backpacking and writing about Southeast Asia for over 10 years, I saw the opportunity to provide backpackers with the kind of experiences that I’d treasured myself in the region! 

Today, there is so much choice, but there are a lot of poor-quality tours and companies that offer mediocre experiences with little care for the environment. I wanted to create a selection of the best tours and activities to help backpackers avoid scams and dodgy tour companies.

Today, I run this website with my partner, Dave, from Spain, where we live with our energetic two-year-old daughter, Evie. All of the bookable activities that you will find on this website have been vetted by a member of our team and we have a friendly relationship with the operator. There are real humans behind South East Asia Backpacker and we are passionate about sustainable travel and development in Southeast Asia.

We are committed to helping travellers at every stage of the journey and understand that plans can change which is why we offer a full discount on the deposit up to 48 hours before the start of your trip, no questions asked. We offer advice on flights, visas, itineraries, hostels, backpacks, packing and more!

If you have any questions about our business or any of the tours that we provide, feel free to contact me on Whatsapp.

Operator Information

2 reviews for Ban Gioc Waterfall + Ba Be Lake Tour | 3 Days | from HANOI, VIETNAM

  1. Leo van Straten

    The scenery was beautiful in this trip. The communication was professional before the tour.
    Pickup good arranged.
    It was a beautiful tour with for me 2 highlights: the falls and the boatride . Unfortunately at the falls it was super crowded because Vietnamese holliday.
    It wasa lot driving, for me much more then I expected.
    The price of the tour was for me not in balance with the quality.
    Minor points were:
    -for such a long driving the car was not very comfortable . I have long leggs, could not always sit in proper way
    —there can be more variation in the food. Now was almost always the same
    – homestays were nice, last one was too hot in the room , airco did not work.
    In general all these things do not need to be a problem but looking at the tour price (350 dollars) for me the reason to mention

  2. Lisa

    I had a fantastic time on this trip. It was very easy to go via Southeastasiabackpacker site and were very quite to communicate with and answer any questions, which I appreciated as I was organising my trip within a week.

    I saw pictures of Ban Gioc on Instagram and I really wanted to go, unfortunately yes it I struggled to find a place that didn’t do it via private tours as I was a solo traveller and ideally wanted to do it with others and it would have been too expensive to do alone. I was able to find this group tour on this site. It only happens one a week I believe and usually on a Friday for 2 nights.

    Ba Be Lake was very peaceful, being a country girls at heart I loved this location, you do get woken up by cockerels but then your homestays will be on ritual farms with local people as this is how they feed themselves and make a living. It’s as free range as it gets.

    Ban Gioc waterfalls were amazing and i’m really happy I made the trip.

    The homestays were very welcoming the fed us really well and the accommodation was of a good standard.

    The tour guide Giang and driver Long were wonderful and made the trip very fun, Giang is full of humour and knowledge and on top of the trip to Ba Be Lake and Ban Gioc we made various stops to help the long journey and he would tell us about various temples or spots that were significant in the War with China.

    I would highly recommend this tour especially if you want to do something a bit different to the usual tourist hot spots.

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