Hanoi
& The North
Old Quarter · Halong Bay · Ninh Binh · 8 Days · Northern Vietnam
Mosaico Travels
Curated Luxury · Exceptional Destinations
A thousand years of culture
between two limestone seas
Hanoi is Vietnam's soul — a thousand-year-old capital where French colonial boulevards thread through the chaotic poetry of the Old Quarter, and where the rhythm of life still moves at the pace of a steaming bowl of pho on a low plastic stool. This is where the country's past and present converse, openly and without apology.
From this base, the Mosaic Journey unfolds outward. North to Halong Bay — the sprawling UNESCO seascape of two thousand limestone karsts rising from emerald water — for an overnight on a luxury junk. South to Ninh Binh — the inland version of Halong, where karsts erupt from rice paddies and you drift through caves on hand-rowed sampans. Two rounds of golf at the country's finest northern courses sit gently within an itinerary built around culture, cruise and quiet wonder.
- Five nights at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi — Asia's grande dame, opened 1901
- Overnight cruise aboard a luxury junk through the karsts of Halong Bay
- Two signature rounds — BRG Kings Island (Kings Course) and Skylake Resort
- Full-day Ninh Binh — Trang An sampan ride and Hang Mua viewpoint
- Hanoi cultural immersion — Old Quarter, Train Street, Temple of Literature
- Hands-on Vietnamese cooking class with a celebrated Hanoi chef
The most civilised chaos in Asia
Hanoi rewards the unhurried traveller. The pace is slower than Saigon, the food more refined, the architecture more layered — Confucian temples beside French villas beside Soviet-era apartment blocks, all of it lived in, all of it working. Beyond the city, the limestone landscapes of the north are among the most photographed in the world, and they earn it.
Your Detailed Mosaic
Eight days of culture, cruise and considered indulgence — anchored at the Sofitel Metropole, with the karsts of Halong and Ninh Binh framing the journey.
Arrival · Hanoi Old Quarter
Arrive Hanoi · Sofitel Legend Metropole · Welcome Dinner
Touch down at Noi Bai International, where your Mosaico private transfer is waiting. Forty minutes south through the rice paddies and into the heart of the Old Quarter, where the Sofitel Legend Metropole reveals itself — Vietnam's grande dame since 1901, a building Charlie Chaplin honeymooned in and Graham Greene wrote in. Settle in to a Premium Suite, take an unhurried walk through the surrounding French Quarter, and gather for a Welcome Dinner at the legendary Le Beaulieu — the first French restaurant ever opened in Indochina.
Hanoi · Cultural Immersion
Old Quarter, Temple of Literature & Train Street
A full day with your private Mosaico guide threading the city's defining moments. Morning at the Temple of Literature — Vietnam's first university, founded 1070 — and the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. Lunch at a celebrated bun cha specialist (the dish President Obama made famous). Afternoon walking the 36 craft streets of the Old Quarter, ending at the impossibly narrow Train Street as the four o'clock train passes inches from the cafe tables. A quiet evening at the hotel's Bamboo Bar — Hanoi's finest jazz address.
Dong Mo · BRG Kings Island
Round One — BRG Kings Island (Kings Course)
An hour west of Hanoi, BRG Kings Island sits on a peninsula jutting into Dong Mo Lake — three courses, of which the Kings (designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.) is the unambiguous favourite. Mature pines, dramatic lake-side carries on the front nine, and a back nine that climbs into the foothills with views to Ba Vi Mountain. A relaxed lunch at the clubhouse, then back to the Metropole for the afternoon. Evening free — perhaps a private cyclo ride through the Old Quarter at dusk.
Halong Bay · Overnight Cruise
Transfer to Halong · Board Heritage Bình Chuẩn
Mid-morning private transfer to Halong Bay (around two and a half hours via the new expressway). Board Heritage Bình Chuẩn — Lux Group's flagship and arguably the most refined vessel in the bay — for a long lunch as the ship sets sail through the karsts. Afternoon kayaking through Luon Cave, a swim from the ship's swim platform, sunset cocktails on the top deck as the limestone islands turn rose and copper. Dinner is a tasting menu in the ship's dining room. Cabins are full ocean-front suites with private balconies.
Halong Bay · Return to Hanoi
Sung Sot Cave · Tai Chi at Sunrise · Return Hanoi
Sunrise tai chi on the top deck — optional, beautiful. After breakfast, a tender takes you to Sung Sot Cave (the bay's largest grotto) and through the floating fishing villages of Cua Van. A final brunch on board as the ship returns to harbour, then private transfer back to Hanoi — arriving Sofitel Metropole by late afternoon. Evening at leisure to recover; perhaps the hotel's spa or a quiet dinner at La Verticale.
Ninh Binh · Tam Coc & Hang Mua
The Inland Halong — Trang An Sampan & Hang Mua Summit
An early start for the two-hour drive south to Ninh Binh — Vietnam's most photographed inland landscape, where karsts the same as Halong's rise from emerald rice paddies instead of sea. A two-hour hand-rowed sampan ride through the Trang An grottoes (a UNESCO site, and where King Kong: Skull Island was filmed). Lunch at a celebrated countryside restaurant, then the climb to the Hang Mua viewpoint — five hundred steps to a panorama that ranks among Asia's finest. Visit the ancient Hoa Lu capital ruins en route home. Late return to Hanoi.
Hanoi · Skylake Resort & Farewell
Round Two — Skylake Resort · Cooking Class · Farewell Dinner
A morning round at Skylake Resort — Sir Nick Faldo's debut design in Vietnam, set among forty hectares of pine forest and lakes ninety minutes west of the city. The course is dramatic, the conditioning excellent, and the recently rebuilt clubhouse a quiet pleasure. Afternoon back in town for a hands-on Vietnamese cooking class with a celebrated Hanoi chef — five courses, market-fresh, fully guided. The week closes with a Grand Farewell Dinner at La Verticale, the city's most refined French-Vietnamese tasting menu, in a restored colonial villa.
Departure · Hanoi
Leisure Morning & Onward Travel
A leisurely final morning. Late breakfast in the Metropole's Le Club, time at leisure for a final pho or a quiet stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake. Private transfer to Noi Bai International for your onward flight. Mosaico's concierge is at your side until the moment you check in.
Two Rounds. Two Northern Landscapes.
Two of Northern Vietnam's most respected courses — one on a peninsula in Dong Mo Lake, the other a Faldo-designed forest-and-water classic. Both within ninety minutes of the Metropole.
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Round 01
BRG Kings Island
Vietnam Top 10 · Robert Trent Jones Jr. · Dong Mo Lake
Round 02
Skylake Resort
Sir Nick Faldo Design · Forest & Lakes · Hoa Binh
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
Asia's grande dame since 1901 — a colonial landmark in the heart of the French Quarter, two minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake.
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
Opened in 1901 and one of only a handful of hotels worldwide carrying the Sofitel Legend designation, the Metropole has hosted Charlie Chaplin's honeymoon, Graham Greene's residency while writing The Quiet American, and presidents and prime ministers without number. The original Metropole Wing retains its colonial bones — high ceilings, wooden floors, white shutters — while the Opera Wing offers a more contemporary parallel.
Two minutes' walk from Hoan Kiem Lake, the Old Quarter, the Opera House and the National Museum. There is no better address in Hanoi, and arguably none more storied in all of Asia.
Hotel Highlights
- Premium Suite with garden or pool view, Metropole Wing
- Le Beaulieu — the first French restaurant ever opened in Indochina (1901)
- La Verticale — French-Vietnamese tasting menu in a colonial villa
- Bamboo Bar — Hanoi's finest jazz, in the original 1901 courtyard
- Le Spa du Metropole — a private spa retreat across two colonial villas
- Outdoor heated swimming pool in the Opera Wing courtyard
- Daily breakfast at Le Club Bar — the original 1901 grand salon
Day 4–5 · The Cruise
Heritage Bình Chuẩn —
An Overnight Among the Karsts
Halong's UNESCO seascape — two thousand limestone islands, emerald water, fishing villages built on the surface of the bay — is the kind of landscape that genuinely defies description. The trick is the boat. We use Heritage Bình Chuẩn, Lux Group's flagship and the most refined vessel currently sailing the bay: twenty all-suite ocean-front cabins with private balconies, two restaurants, an open-air top deck for sunset cocktails, and a level of service that has earned it Asia's Leading Luxury River Cruise honours four years running.
Kayaking, swim platforms, cave exploration, Cua Van floating village, sunrise tai chi — the experience is built around the bay itself, and the ship is the perfect vantage from which to witness it.
Hanoi & The North Beyond
The landscapes, landmarks and quiet rituals that make this corner of Vietnam unlike anywhere else in Asia.
UNESCO · Day 4–5
Halong Bay
UNESCO · Day 6
Trang An, Ninh Binh
Day 1–2 · Hanoi
The Old Quarter
Day 2 · Hanoi
Temple of Literature
Day 6 · Ninh Binh
Hang Mua Summit
Day 2 · Hanoi
Train Street
Everything Taken Care Of
Sofitel Legend Metropole — 5 Nights
Five nights in a Premium Suite at Asia's grande dame — Hanoi's most storied address, two minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter.
Heritage Bình Chuẩn — 1 Night
An overnight in an Ocean Suite with private balcony aboard Lux Group's flagship — full board, all activities, kayaking, sunrise tai chi.
Two Signature Rounds
Green fees, caddies and buggies at BRG Kings Island (Kings Course) and Skylake Resort. All tee times confirmed in advance.
Full-Day Ninh Binh
Trang An sampan ride, Hang Mua summit climb, Hoa Lu ancient capital, lunch at a celebrated countryside restaurant — fully guided.
Hanoi Cultural Day & Cooking Class
Old Quarter walking tour, Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison, Train Street, plus a hands-on five-course cooking class with a celebrated Hanoi chef.
Private Transfers & Mosaico Concierge
Luxury private vehicles for all movements, dedicated English-speaking guide throughout, and welcome and farewell dinners at Le Beaulieu and La Verticale.
Package Pricing
Per person starting from rates. Includes seven nights across the Sofitel Metropole and Heritage Bình Chuẩn, two signature rounds, the full Halong Bay overnight cruise, the Ninh Binh day trip, and a fully guided Hanoi cultural programme.
Starting From
per person · USD · double occupancy
5 nights Sofitel Legend Metropole · 1 night Heritage Bình Chuẩn cruise · 2 rounds with green fees, caddies & buggies · Full-day Ninh Binh · Hanoi cultural day & cooking class · All private transfers · Welcome & Farewell Dinners
Starting From
per person · USD · double occupancy
5 nights Sofitel Legend Metropole · 1 night Heritage Bình Chuẩn cruise · Curated programme — Old Quarter, Temple of Literature, Train Street, Trang An, Hang Mua, cooking class · All transfers · Welcome & Farewell Dinners
"Hanoi is the most beautiful capital in Southeast Asia — a city where French villas and Confucian temples and the chaos of the Old Quarter all somehow belong to the same conversation. There is nowhere quite like it."— Condé Nast Traveler · Asia's Most Compelling Cities
Your Northern Vietnam
Mosaic Awaits
We warmly invite you to reach out — and would genuinely love to schedule time to meet and walk you through every detail. The Mosaico Travels team is here, and we welcome the conversation.