Vietnam - The North Photo Tour.
Take exquisite portraits in the Land of the Blue Dragon.
The Tour.
Are you ready for an incredible photography tour of Northern Vietnam? Our tour has been carefully crafted to provide a colourful mix of cultural, landscape, and portrait photography, with three main components: the vibrant streets of Hanoi, the stunning rice terraces and ethnic minorities of Ha Giang.
We start our journey with a tour of Old Hanoi, where you'll get the chance to explore the bustling streets like a local and capture the vibrant activity of people at work, play, and roadside dining. From there, we'll head to Ha Giang, a stunning region near the Chinese border that is a dream come true for landscape photographers. You'll also meet authentic hill-tribe people living their traditional lifestyles, providing you with ample opportunities to capture unique portraits.
We have timed our tours to coincide with the annual rice harvest so that you can enjoy the incredible landscapes of the rice terraces at their best and most colourful. But that's not all - we'll also take you on short treks to ethnic minority villages, flower fields, the unique Karst mountains, and an exquisite lake.
Vietnam boasts an astounding 54 ethnic minorities, and we make it a priority to interact with local people throughout the tour. To that end, we've designed our itinerary to follow the local market circuit, where you'll encounter many ethnic minorities in their traditional dress and have opportunities to capture stunning portrait images.
Finally, we'll conclude our adventure with an optional cruise around the serene Halong Bay. You'll enjoy a private junk boat with your own cabin, bathroom, and ample deck space to capture 360-degree seascapes of this UNESCO World Heritage site. With Nathan leading the tour along with our trusted local guide, this tour is a must for anyone looking to capture the beauty of Northern Vietnam through their lens. Don't miss out on this great opportunity!
Photo Highlights.
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Halong Bay
Overnight on a private boat
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Hill tribes
54 recognised ethnic groups
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Rice terraces
Beautiful seasonal colours
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Mountains
Spectacular scenery
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Local markets
Carefully timed to include weekend markets
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Flower fields
In season
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Portraits
Friendly locals
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Hoan Kiem lake
Early morning ballroom dancing
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Harvest season
Plenty of action in the fields
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Temple of Literature
Main tourist attraction
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Dong Van
Karst plateau geopark
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Ancient Villages
Interesting characters
Tour Details.
Est. 2016
Duration: 13 days, 12 nights, 11 days of shooting
Dates and Prices
2024
August 28 - September 9
US$6250 {+$650 Halong Bay extension}
2025
September 10 - 22
US$6450 {+$650 Halong Bay extension}
Past participants will get a special discount.
Our fee includes hotels, breakfast, bottled water throughout the tour, as well as all transport including airport transfers. This tour also includes X internal flights. We base our fee on accommodation in a single room, (always A/C with private bathroom) though we offer discounts for couples sharing rooms, as well as for non-photographers.
Our Itinerary.
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Day 1
Arrive any time: Enjoy free transfer to your hotel
PM: Optional technical and aesthetic travel photography workshop for those who need it
Sunset: Meet Nathan and the group
Sleep: Hanoi luxury hotel
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Day 2
Sunrise: Hoan Kiem Lake
AM: Explore Hanoi like a local
PM: Temple of Literature
Sunset: Hanoi's railway tracks
Sleep: Hanoi luxury hotel.
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Day 3
Sunrise: Hoan Kiem Lake (Tai chi)
AM: Bac Ha drive
PM: Head for the hills
Sunset: Hmong Palace with models
Sleep: Sao Mai hotel
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Day 4
Sunrise: Market drive
AM: Can Cau market
PM: Ban Pho village walk
Sunset: Local fields
Sleep: Sao Mai hotel
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Day 5
Sunrise: Bac Ha Sunday market
AM: Coc Pai Market
PM: Pan Hou drive
Sunset: Rice terraces
Sleep: Pan Hou eco lodge
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Day 6
Sunrise: Local terraces with models
AM: Drive to Hoang Su Phi
PM: Walk to local Red Dao village
Sunset: Rice terrace vantage point
Sleep: Hoang Su Phi bungalow
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Day 7
Sunrise: Local terraces with Dzao tribes
AM: Quan Ba drive
PM: Heaven’s Gate
Sunset: Dao cultural show
Sleep: Dao Lodge homestay
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Day 8
Sunrise: Dao Lodge village walk
AM: Flower fields
PM: Sung Muoi village
Sunset: Walk to H'mong village
Sleep: Dong Van hotel
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Day 9
Sunrise: At rest
AM: Dong Van market
PM: Meo Vac via Ma Pi Leng Pass
Sunset: Boat ride Nho Que river
Sleep: Meo Vac Clay House
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Day 10
Sunrise: Meo Vac
AM: Bao Lac drive
PM: Tay, Nung, Man people
Sunset: Ba Be lake
Sleep: Ba Be luxury hotel
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Day 11
Sunrise: Ba Be Lake
AM: Organized shoot on Ba Be Lake
PM: Puong Grotto and the Dau Dang waterfall
Sunset: Post production workshop
Sleep: Ba Be luxury hotel
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Day 12
Sunrise: Free time
AM: Hanoi drive
PM: Hanoi street walk
Sunset: Hoan Kiem Lake
Sleep: Hanoi luxury hotel
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Day 13
Depart any time and enjoy our airport transfer
or consider our 24-hour Halong Bay extension with sunset and sunrise privileges
We know you will have had a fabulous time!
Bon Voyage
Make the dream a reality.
Tuition.
On any of our tours, stunning photography is the name of the game, and our objective is for you to leave with a collection of images that you'll be proud to show off. Indeed, many of our past participants have gone on to win awards and competitions with photographs taken on our tours.
Nathan’s teaching approach is very hands-on, as he believes in learning by doing. He will guide you through technical challenges, provide artistic inspiration, and lead by example in approaching locals for great portraits. You'll be amazed at the striking and authentic images you'll be able to capture.
We also offer Lightroom workshops during our tours, where we cover workflow management and picture processing. We'll show you the tools to take your travel photography to the next level and provide tips on saving your pictures for various outputs like social media, e-books, and printing.
If this is your first tour with us, you can also join Nathan’s pre-tour workshop, designed to equip you with essential skills for travel photography. Covering technical competence, creative observation, and ethical responsibility with a focus on people and culture, this workshop is perfect if you’re new to travel photography or need a refresher. The workshop runs on the first day of the tour from around 1-5pm. Enhance your photography skills and capture breathtaking moments to treasure forever. Apply via our tour request form and prepare to take your photography skills to the next level.
Hotels and transport.
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Charming hotels
Accommodation is of course an essential element of any tour, and we have gone to great lengths to secure the best available hotels throughout the journey, to make your nights as comfortable as possible. You will enjoy a luxury hotel each time you are in Hanoi and a private Junk boat in Halong Bay.
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Eco lodges
We can reasonably describe some parts of the tour as 'off the beaten track', where our usual high standard of accommodation simply isn’t available. Here we use charismatic home-stays and eco-lodges with natural spas or lake views, all of which of course have great photo opportunities right on their doorsteps.
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Spacious minibuses
Transport is a key consideration of a photography tour. We recognise your unique needs as a photographer and know you will always want to travel with the camera bag conveniently and safely close to hand. In this respect, we typically travel in a bus big enough to give you seats for both you and your bag.
TripAdvisor.
Unnar Magna - February 2019
Well, I must sit down for a moment, take a break as a busy photographer for a few minutes and write this review because it is absolutely mandatory to inform everyone of the awesomeness they will experience after signing up for a tour with Nathan. If you are just thinking about it, not truly sure if it will be worth the money or the experience, think no more because the trip, whatever one you take will blow your mind. Well worth the investment - so just go for it, you will not regret it for a second, I just wished it never ended and would give it hands down a 10-star rating if possible!
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