Ninh Binh Private 3-Day Eco-Lodge Retreat

Ninh Binh is the part of northern Vietnam where limestone karsts rise out of rice paddies and rivers, and Van Long is one of its nature reserves. This three-day private retreat is built around staying in the countryside rather than visiting it for an afternoon: two nights in a 3-star boutique eco-lodge, with a private guide for the activities.

You arrive at the lodge at 14:00 on Day 1 and are welcomed with a herbal drink. The programme combines a rowboat tour in the reserve, on a traditional wooden boat reserved for your group, with cycling along quiet village paths past rice fields and karst formations. Your guide is a local with 20 years of experience as a wildlife guide, though the listing notes that wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed. A 60-minute spa and wellness session and an evening farm-to-table cooking class, in which you prepare regional dishes, complete the stay.

The price includes the two nights, breakfasts, light lunches and dinners, the spa session, the boat tour, the guide, mountain bikes, the cooking class, drinking water and herbal refreshments, conservation support fees and local permits, and hotel pickup and drop-off. Tips, personal expenses and additional food and drinks are extra. Bring comfortable shoes, a hat, a camera and sunscreen. Smoking and littering are not allowed.

The listing asks for moderate fitness, because of the village cycling, the boat rides and the short forest walks. It is not suitable for pregnant women, people with mobility impairments or people who cannot ride a bike. The page does not give a detailed day-by-day timetable or a group size beyond calling the tour private, so ask the operator for the schedule.

The operator is VietnamCharm, and the retreat is booked through GetYourGuide with free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start. It suits travellers who want a slow, outdoor stretch of three days in the Ninh Binh countryside, with a guide and the main activities arranged in one booking.