Vinh Phuc is a semi-mountainous province in between the Northwest and the Red River Delta in the North of Vietnam. The provincial capital of Vinh Phuc is Vinh Yen City, 55km northwest of Hanoi.

Vinh Phuc is home to a number of tourist attractions including the Tam Dao National Park and Tam Dao Hill Station, Dai Lai Lake...which are suitable for leisurely bicycle tours, trekking tours, relaxing holidays and eco tourism.



The tranquil countryside of Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc

Adventure Travel & Ecotourism, Things To Do and Tourist Attractions in Vinh Phuc

1/Tam Dao National Park

The national park of Tam Dao is 23km northeast of Vinh Yen City and 80km north of Hanoi. The name of the national park means “Three Islands” in Vietnamese. The reason is that there are three mountain peaks at the national park which are more than 1,300m above sea level.

AdventureGreen offers hiking tours to these 3 peaks from Hanoi for 2 days and 1 night which could be extended to make it less of a rush. The tour is a hard trekking adventure, the accommodation is at a hotel at Tam Dao Township.

Alternatively you can choose to take an even harder adventure from the Tam Dao National Park to the Tay Thien Pagoda. The trekking part takes a full day. The whole trip takes at least 2 full days of which you’ll arrive back in Hanoi in mid evening.

AdventureGreen also offers an eco tour to visit the national park including the Wild Boar Rescue Center, the botanical garden, and Tam Dao Township. The tour could take 1 day or 2 days from Hanoi.



The tranquil countryside of Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc

2/ Tam Dao Township (Tam Dao Hill Station)

This is a little township perched on an altitude of 1,000 at the Tam Dao National Park. Tam Dao Hill Station is an extremely popular tourist attraction at weekend in the summer for Vietnamese tourists who love to get away from the heat in the lowlands. The hill station is 80km north of Hanoi.

There are a few hiking routes at the township: hiking to the television tower, hiking to the Silver Waterfall, visiting the Dia Nguc Pagoda (Pagoda of Hell)… Visiting all these sites should take a little half a day for an averaged hiker.



Tam Dao Hill Station, Vinh Phuc

2/Tay Thien Pagoda

This is a complex of Buddhist pagoda, Zen Meditation Center and local worshiping on a slope of the Thach Ban Mountain (of the Tam Dao National Park). The place is said to have been started as a Buddhist pagoda as well as zen meditation place by a Buddhist monk from India in the 3rd century CE. There are also shrines for local worshiping that the Vietnamese pilgrims pay respect to the Mothers of the Land.

The complex of Tay Thien stretches on an area which measures 11km long and 1km wide. Visiting the whole complex, you can choose to go either on foot or by cable car. Those of you who love hiking, then the hiking path is 7km each way and it requires you to be fit. It is not steep all the way but the path includes uphill, flat and downhill path with nice scenery, but it may be longer and harder than you imagine. Parts of the hiking path may be flooded but you can wade across. Be prepared with hiking shoes if you plan to hike. The easier way is certainly by cable car.



The countryside of Vinh Phuc, near Phu Tho Province

3/Dai Lai Lake

The lake is 15km east of Vinh Yen and 70km north of Hanoi. While there may be not much for a foreign visitor to be here it is quite popular for Vietnamese tourists on their holidays. The serene lake and patches of green woods provide fresh air and people love a couple of days relaxing on their vacations.



Vinh Phuc at the foot of Tam Dao Mountain Range

How to get to and how to get around Vinh Phuc

The road from Hanoi to Vinh Phuc is in excellent condition and it should take less than 1 hour to travel between Hanoi and Vinh Yen City. There are several taxi companies and motorbike taxis in Vinh Yen which makes travel within the city and to the vicinity of Vinh Yen easy.