Northern Vietnam

Northern Vietnam is home to the country’s thousand-year-old capital, Hanoi, but venture farther north, toward the border with China, and you’ll enter an entirely different world. Here, dramatic karst mountains rise above golden rice terraces that tumble down steep hillsides. Winding roads lead to colorful markets and small villages where many of Vietnam’s ethnic minority communities live, each with their own language, dress, and traditions.

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Days in the far north often unfold on the back of a motorbike—maneuvering jaw-dropping mountain passes and stopping for bowls of phở in remote hamlets. Nights are spent at simple stilt-house homestays, where you sit cross-legged on the floor to share meals with local families and sip home-brewed rice wine. Or, opt for a complete change of pace and head east to Ha Long Bay, spending the night aboard a luxury boat surrounded by impressive limestone islets.