Yen Tu asks you to slow your steps. A stone path disappears beneath old trees; a temple bell sounds somewhere above the mist. As well as the climb gives way to a quiet courtyard where you can finally catch your breath. This two-day eco retreat pairs a guided mountain trek with simple meditation, nourishing vegetarian food and a restful night at the foot of the mountain.
For travellers browsing Halong Tours who would like to spend more time in Quang Ninh, Yen Tu offers a rewarding change of scenery. You do not need meditation experience. You should bring comfortable walking shoes, a little curiosity and a willingness to let the day move at the mountain’s pace.
Meals: Lunch, dinner · Overnight: Yen Tu Village
07:30 – Depart Ha Long City
You will meet our tour guide and travel inland to Yen Tu. As the coast gives way to wooded hills, our guide will introduce the story of King Tran Nhan Tong. Who left the imperial court and is closely associated with the Truc Lam Zen tradition here. Note, you should keep a light layer in your daypack: the upper paths often feel cooler than the mountain entrance.
09:15 – Begin at Giai Oan
Firstly, you will start beside Giai Oan Stream and visit Giai Oan Pagoda before taking the stone path uphill. We walk steadily, leaving room to notice the sound of water and wind in the trees. Note, the steps can be slick after rain, so shoes with good grip matter more than speed.
10:30 – Hue Quang Stupa and Hoa Yen Pagoda
Then, you will continue traveling through the forest to Hue Quang Stupa and climb towards Hoa Yen Pagoda. Besides, our tour guide will explain the significance of these sites, but there is also time simply to sit and take in the setting. Noted, at the pagodas, you please keep voices low, dress respectfully and ask before photographing worshippers.
12:30 – Vegetarian lunch
Next, you will return to the lower mountain area for a leisurely vegetarian lunch. Expect a selection of seasonal vegetables, rice and tofu-based dishes; menus vary by kitchen and season. Please let us know in advance about allergies or other dietary needs.
14:00 – Check in and rest
You will settle into Yen Tu Village. The afternoon deliberately has some open space: take a shower, rest your legs or stroll through the village grounds. This is a retreat, so there is no need to fill every hour.
16:00 – Introduction to breathing meditation
Later, you will join a gentle guided session focused on posture and breathing. Chairs can be arranged if sitting on the floor is uncomfortable. Noted, no previous practice is needed, and you may step out quietly whenever you wish.
18:00 – Dinner and an unhurried evening
Finish the day, you will enjoy a vegetarian dinner, then spend the evening as you prefer: a slow walk, a cup of tea. Or an early night before tomorrow’s climb. Any additional wellness activity depends on the property’s programme and availability.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
06:30 – Optional walking meditation
You will begin the new day with an easy walk around the village grounds. In addition, our guide will invite you to pay attention to your breathing and the feeling of each step. If you would rather sleep in, join the group at breakfast.
07:15 – Breakfast at the retreat
Then, you will enjoy breakfast and fill your reusable water bottle before departure. Carry only what you need for the trail: water, a light rain layer and sun protection.
08:00 – Return to the mountain
Today’s route explores the higher part of Yen Tu. Depending on the group’s fitness and the conditions underfoot, you will walk from the Hoa Yen area towards Mot Mai Pagoda and onward towards An Ky Sinh and Dong Pagoda at the mountain peak. Note, the upper section involves steep, uneven steps; mist may limit the view, and the exposed summit can be windy.
In addition, for travellers who prefer a gentler day can spend longer around Hoa Yen and the nearby heritage sites, using the cable car where available. Besides, our guide will confirm the suitable route that morning. Reaching the summit is never a requirement for enjoying the retreat.
11:30 – Descend and take a break
Next, you will make your way down at a comfortable pace, with stops for water and rest. Please stay on the marked route and carry any litter back with you. Small acts of care help keep this living pilgrimage landscape welcoming for the next visitors.
12:45 – Farewell lunch
Afterwar, you will share one final vegetarian lunch near the mountain. It is a good moment to ask your guide about local customs or revisit a favourite part of the walk before leaving Yen Tu.
14:00 – Return to Ha Long City
In the afternoon, you will travel back to Ha Long City. Arrival is expected in the late afternoon, depending on traffic and the chosen walking route.
Yen Tu is a mountain pilgrimage, and its stone steps demand more attention than an ordinary city walk. Start slowly, take short breaks and keep your hands free on steeper sections. A compact rain jacket is useful even when the forecast looks clear.
The route is also an active place of worship. Modest clothing and a quiet manner are appreciated at the pagodas. During the busy spring pilgrimage season, expect more visitors and allow extra time on the paths. If your main wish is space for reflection, a quieter travel date will usually suit this retreat better.
Planning note: The ascent to Dong Pagoda is weather and fitness dependent. The final booking should identify the exact property, room type and included cable car journeys so guests know precisely what is covered.
The Yen Tu destination operator describes the Giai Oan–Hoa Yen–An Ky Sinh–Dong Pagoda heritage route and its cable car connections. Vietnam’s tourism authority notes that the full mountain trek can take considerably longer than a short sightseeing visit, which is why this itinerary allows a flexible Day 2 ascent. Existing two-day retreats at Yen Tu also informed the balance of meditation, vegetarian meals and an overnight village stay.
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Item |
Details |
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Duration: |
2 days, 1 night |
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Route: |
Ha Long City → Yen Tu → Ha Long City |
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Overnight stay: |
Yen Tu Village (Lang Nuong), or a similar retreat-style property |
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Activity level: |
Moderate; expect uneven stone steps and sustained uphill walking |
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Meals: |
Day 1: lunch, dinner · Day 2: breakfast, lunch |
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Best time to travel: |
Autumn and the cooler, generally drier months are especially pleasant for walking. Conditions can still change quickly on the mountain. |
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Suitable for: |
First-time visitors, nature lovers and travellers interested in an introductory meditation experience |
Times below are a practical guide. The walking route, cable car operation and outdoor activities may change with weather, trail conditions and opening hours.
I first traveled with Impress a few years ago when i visited Sapa and naturally it had to be Impress when i decide to visit Vietnam again.
They are very professional and have good English speaking guides which makes our tour so much convenient and comfortable.
Their local guides are very knowledgeable and gives excellent service.
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Impress travel were amazing. Did my bookings with Daniel for our tour of Vietnam and I must say Daniel was very professional and prompt with his services. All the arrangement, plans, pick-up & drop-off services, hotels, vehicles, sightseeing tours and guides were spot on and excellent. Did 4 nights Hanoi, 1 night Hà Long Bay cruise, 3 nights Hoian, 4 nights Saigon and 1 night in Can Tho. It was totally awesome. Every part of the journey was superbly arranged and planned. I will highly recommend Impress Travel for anyone interested in visiting Vietnam. Very organized and reliable!
I first traveled with Impress a few years ago when i visited Sapa and naturally it had to be Impress when i decide to visit Vietnam again.
They are very professional and have good English speaking guides which makes our tour so much convenient and comfortable.
Their local guides are very knowledgeable and gives excellent service.
I will gladly recommend to Impress Travel to my family and friends if they are visiting Vietnam.
This was my 2nd visit to Vietnam in the last 3 years and i decided to come back again with Impress Travel with my friends beacause you have been very professional in order to organizer my first trip with my Family.
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Spanish Guide in SAPA, Hotel, Meals , Organization and all was perfect.
Marcos
Great value for money with 4 stars hotel accommodation for 4 couples. The tour guide has been very helpful and brought us to amazing places in Sapa. We want to thanks Thuy the tour guide and especially Mark from Impress Travel for his great service and assurance throughout our trip. We’ll definitely use his service for other tour packages in other parts of Vietnam.
I booked with Impress Travel in July. My contact person was Tommy Thang. He is an amazing person. He was very helpful. He changed my program twice for me. Very accommodating!
We started our holiday in the north (Sapa)of Vietnam and travelled down to HCMC.
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I will always use them if I have to visit the area again and recommend them to one and all.
Thank you once again Mr.Tommy and the Impress Team.
Sulaiman Pochee
South Africa
Impress travel were amazing. Did my bookings with Daniel for our tour of Vietnam and I must say Daniel was very professional and prompt with his services. All the arrangement, plans, pick-up & drop-off services, hotels, vehicles, sightseeing tours and guides were spot on and excellent. Did 4 nights Hanoi, 1 night Hà Long Bay cruise, 3 nights Hoian, 4 nights Saigon and 1 night in Can Tho. It was totally awesome. Every part of the journey was superbly arranged and planned. I will highly recommend Impress Travel for anyone interested in visiting Vietnam. Very organized and reliable!
At first, I was just planning a trip to Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Ninh Binh for my small family.
Some close friends heard about our plans and wanted to join the trip. Eventually the group grew to be 7 families, with 25 adults and children of varying interests and expectations.
While I was excited at the prospect of touring Vietnam with good friends, I felt anxiously responsible to ascertain that everything must be well organized and everyone satisfied. This is why I am so very, very glad to have found Impress Travel. Mr. Mark responded quickly to all my inquiries, customized a wonderful trip according to the group's preferences, tirelessly worked out every detail for our 7-day trip, all at a reasonable price. Our guide, Trung, is knowledgeable, helpful, quick to respond to any need, and well-loved by everyone in the group. All my friends found this a marvelous trip, filled with beautiful memories, very much to my delight and relief!
Mr Tommy, on behalf of our group, we thank you for your efforts in putting together such a memorable vacation and experience of Sapa, overnight train, Halong Bay, Hanoi + Bai Dinh, your tour guides are so knowledgeable, passionate + helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we will certainly recommend your tour agency to our friends and share our experiences in social media.
Thumbs up, best regards,
David
It was amazing place to visit in the north of vietnam , we really enjoy all the trip especially their foods , culture, beautiful view and so on.
Accommodations were good especially Thang Long Espana Hotel (the Hotel Management automated upgraded us to VIP rooms.Is really unexpected). Overalled tours n places visited very well but only local guides r not good organizing the itineraries. Especially at Sapa Lao Cai and Cat Cat Villages walking tours push to the same day about 8hours for 7km (which is on 1st&2nd days arrival) so tiring. Lunch not good enough 4 so many hours of walking. In Danang Bana Hill the local guide shd arrange 2 visit Bana Hill 1st n not last coz' spend a short time n not nice photos taken due to rain (went in morning time no rain).
Overall tours, hotels, transportation, prices are strongly recommended. Especially Daniel Dang Impress Travel for welcoming and bye-bye wishes.
Daniel Dang tks from 8 of us having a wonderful time n memorable trip for 8D7N Sapa, Hanoi, Danang with Impress Travel. Meet u all again.
We are family of 6 from Singapore and Malaysia joining Hanoi Impress Travel on 30 October-04 November 2019. We are really impressed with the company and tour guides with their professionalism and well organised arrangement. Lily is our guide for Hanoi, Tam Coc and Ninh Binh. She is excellent and very informative. She even taking care of us until late night. We walk us from Old Quarters to the hotel and brought us to try the famous road side foods. She even helped us to pay for our order to avoid overcharge by the stall. Another guide, David BK (Swan Cruise) brought us to Halong Bay cruise. He is excellent and humorous. He handles everything throughout the trip. He served meals for guests on the cruise, organised happy hour, guiding us for Kayaking, teaching Taiji and cooking class on cruise. The cruise ship is ok and the hotel in Hanoi-Adamas Hotel is small but new and clean with reasonable ok breakfast. Anyway thank you for the wonderful arrangement.
We booked a 8 day private tour package for 9 persons for Northern and Central Vietnam . We experienced great and very professional service from the Impress travel team. Tommy was very easy to contact and accommodated our requests.
All the tour guides were very good, spoke good English, friendly and patient. All the vehicles were very clean , spacious enough for our group of 6 adults and 3 children. The drivers were extremely safe and ontime.
Meals were served in clean restaurants.
Overall we had a good holiday .Thank you Tommy and Impress travel for a great experience.
We booked package for 9 persons in Hanoi and i was experienced great service during my stay! the PIC (Mr. Mark) was very pleasant and so easily to contact, i was communicated so easily for trip preparation..the tour guide for Trang An was good, Mr Hiep was helped us very well, and he was so patient on witing us shopping! Thank you Hiep!!
during in Hanoi we were stayed in great hotel with nice service also, and during in Halong Bay, they also choosen the best cruise for us! Swan cruise and also the Mr Cong was great!! thank you!!
for transporation, the car was good and driver are pleasant, but only a little bit communication since the driver less good in english. but overall great!!
all the choosen food for lunch and dinner was delicious
Thank you so much Impress travel
Impress Travels has been very helpful in making our vietnam travel amazing. We were a bunch of 7 friends wanting to go on a budget trip covering most locations. Hence, this subjected to a lot of changes during our discussion with the tour guide Daniel.
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They really understand your needs. And needless to say our experience was amazing. All of this support and help has really made our vietnam trip the most memorable as far ❤️
I was searching for a reliable travel agent and come across Impress Travel and the many reviews of them. I booked 5D/4N, Hanoi-Trang An-Halong Bay private trip for a party of 6. I communicated with Mr Daniel Dang throughout the time until the day we arrived. Mr Daniel is very patient, helpful, and accommodating to our requirements despite many changes made to the itinerary. The price is very reasonable unlike other travel agents.
Our tour guide, Lily was very friendly and efficientknowledgeable and speak good English.
Highly recommend “Trang An Boat Tour”. The caves was spectacular and beautifully.
2D/1N Halong Bay – Swan Cruise was awesome with amazing view of the cave. Our guide Mr David was hilarious, helpful, accommodating, and everything was well organized. Beside the normal
activities of kayaking, swimming, Tai Chi, culinary lesson, we are indeed very very fortunate to have
the chance to celebrate the “Mooncake Festival” while cruising and admiring the full moon.
Spread of mooncake, dessert, sweet snack, fruits, cocktail, beer and mini dragon dance complete the celebration. Tourists from all over the world party all night long.
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Hanoi – Duong Lam - Halong Bay – Hue – Danang – Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh city – Mekong Delta – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Can Tho – Phu Quoc Island - Ho Chi Minh city.
It is worth talking about details, say what you want to see, watch the hotels, indicate which rooms you want, the office will organize everything for you. I highly recommend!
The whole trip was arranged with the active help of Mr. Daniel Dang.
Thanks to Mr Tommy and staff for putting together an active and interesting tour in all 3 countries. In every city or town we had we met by very nice, friendly and knowledgeable guides. We went in June which was HOT HOT HOT and were always so happy to have an air conditioned vehicle with cold water waiting for us. We traveled by planes, trains, automobiles and boats and all were fabulously coordinated by Mr Tommy without fail. The selection of sites helped us enjoy so many aspects of all 3 countries!
