Homestays in Vietnam

Ba Be Lake is Vietnam's largest natural freshwater lake - three connected bodies of water (Pé Lèng, Pé Lù, Pé Lầm) stretching 8km through karst mountains in Bắc Kạn. Ramsar Wetland site, Tày homestays, boat through Puong Cave, and some of the most intact lowland forest in the northern highlands.

Du Già is a Tày and H'mông village 70km from Hà Giang city on the eastern Ha Giang Loop - quieter and harder to reach than the main loop, with rice terraces, red silk-cotton trees lining the road, and homestays that attract travellers who want the experience over the Instagram shot.

Lô Lô Chải Village, named UN Tourism's Best Tourism Village 2025, sits at the foot of Lũng Cú's Dragon Mountain near Vietnam's northernmost point - a community of Lô Lô and H'Mông families in traditional rammed-earth houses, now a global tourism success story that's also grappling with the growing pains of sudden fame.

Mẫu Sơn is one of the few places in Vietnam where snow falls - a highland massif topped by Phia Pò peak (1,541m) in Lạng Sơn province near the Chinese border, with abandoned French colonial ruins, a sea of clouds, and genuine subalpine conditions in winter.

The Moc Chau Tea Hills are vast rolling plantations of trimmed green tea bushes covering the highland plateau of Son La province, about 10km from Moc Chau town. Most photogenic at dawn when mist settles between the rows - the smell of tea leaves in the cool morning air is one of the defining sensory experiences of the plateau.

Muong Hoa Valley - Sa Pa's most iconic trekking corridor - stretches 15km through Vietnam's largest rice terrace system (2,200+ hectares), H'Mông and Giáy villages, and the 3,000-year-old Ancient Rock Field. 8-10km from Sa Pa town, changes colour with every season.

Tả Van Village - home of the Giáy people deep in Muong Hoa Valley - is the best homestay base in Sa Pa. Surrounded by sweeping terraced fields, 10-12km from Sa Pa town, it offers an authentic overnight experience that most visitors to Cat Cat or Fansipan never reach.

Việt Hải is a fishing and farming village of 87 households inside Cát Bà National Park - nicknamed 'island within an island', reachable only by boat from Bến Bèo or by a 12km jungle trek through the national park. No road access to the outside world.

Y Tý is a remote Hà Nhì highland commune at 2,000m in Bát Xát district, Lào Cai - one of northern Vietnam's last genuine hidden gems. Famous for sea-of-clouds photography, golden rice terraces, Thác Rồng waterfall, and trekking to peaks like Lảo Thẩn (2,860m), Ky Quan San, and Nhìu Cồ San.