Only about 135km from the capital, Mai Chau (Hoa Binh) is a 5-star weekend destination loved by many tourists. With only 2-3 hours of travel, you can immerse yourself in fresh and cool nature, enjoy delicious cuisine, explore unique culture, participate in interesting games on the river in the middle of Hoa Binh Lake, or simply walk and cycle in the middle of the vast space. quietly and lyrically in the middle of the Northwest gateway.
Come on, grab your suitcase and let's go! The 2 Days 1 Night Migo Itinerary is already scheduled for you!
Photo: maichau.ecolodge.asia
When is it beautiful to go to Mai Chau?
Don't worry because Mai Chau is beautiful in every season. March and April are the same time when the weather is dry and easy to move. This is also the time when the banana flowers are whitening the sky and the earth, Mai Chau is pure as if stepping out of a fairy tale, so it is poetic.
From May to August, Mai Chau welcomes customers again with the ripe plum season. Sneak into the gardens and markets, put plums in your bag to bring home, enjoy the sweet and crispy sour taste of Northwest plums dipped with a little apricot salt, see the whole heaven and earth shrink into your mouth. Moreover, being free to check in among the plum orchards full of branches, it's amazing!
September is the time when the H'Mong people in Mai Chau are celebrating Tet independently, this is also an opportunity for you to experience this unique culture. October is the ripe rice season, the green fields are now covered with shiny gold. The aroma of new rice creeps into the corner of the stilt house.
November falls towards the end of the year: Mai Chau is gentle in the very calm cold of the valley winter. The last months of the year are also the time when peaches, apricots, and plums begin to show off. The white and pink patches cover Mai Chau valley with wonderful colors like a giant watercolor painting. Don't forget to record these beautiful moments.
Photo: Avana Retreat Fanpage
Where to eat in Mai Chau - Check out 7 famous delicious restaurants near and far
Not only beautiful all year round, Mai Chau cuisine is also extremely special. In any season, river fish, village pigs, hill chickens, bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots, seasonal vegetables, fragrant sticky rice, attractive grilled blue rice, Mai Ha wine holds the feet of customers from afar. With a very rich cuisine and always abundant all year round. These delicious dishes are served in almost every restaurant in Mai Chau.
However, if you are coming to Mai Chau for the first time and wondering where to eat, immediately pocket these 7 addresses.
1. Hop Thuy Restaurant - Sub-zone 2 TT. Mai Chau
The space is spacious and neat, suitable for large groups of guests such as companies and groups. The professional service style, the restaurant's cabinet dishes are also Mai Chau specialties such as hill chicken, pigs, and lentils. The price is from 60,000 VND/dish - 600,000 VND/chicken mother.
2. 3 Sisters Restaurant - Chieng Sai hamlet, Mai Chau
This place is one of the delicious restaurants in Mai Chau famous for its rustic menu, especially serving vegetarian dishes. The dish is rich in mountains and forests, although rustic, but still makes many tourists near and far remember. Average price: 200,000VND/person
3. Mai Chau stilt house - Ban Lac, Chieng Chau, Mai Chau
Famous stilt houses you can refer to such as: stilt house No. 1 (Thu Hoa), Mai Chau stilt house No. 29 (Long Di stilt house) or stilt house No. 20 (Linh Sôi Homestay), stilt house No. 19 (Hung Mech), stilt house No. 38...
The stilt houses here serve homestays combined with dining with a menu of ethnic dishes such as hill chicken, grilled pork, Da River fish at an affordable price of 120,000 - 150,000 VND/person.
4. Lighthouse Restaurant - Sub-district 4, Mai Chau
Hai Dang Restaurant serves Thai ethnic dishes, village pigs, stream fish, wild vegetables and Northwest ethnic dishes. The restaurant's cabinet dishes include salmon and fresh sturgeon raised right in Mai Chau. If you have the opportunity to try fish dishes at the restaurant, you will definitely be satisfied by the fresh taste of these fish dishes. Average price: 130,000 - 300,000vnđ
5. Thuy Nga Restaurant - Junction 3 Dong Bong, Mai Chau
The restaurant serves from breakfast, popular rice to famous mountain and forest specialties of Hoa Binh. A large staff and fast service are a big plus point of the restaurant. Reference price: 50,000 VND - 200,000 VND/dish
6. Dung Hoa Quan - Na Phong, Mai Chau
With a neat space, Dung Hoa Quan specializes in serving Mai Chau specialties such as blue rice, tuna, purple sticky rice, grilled pork, hill chicken... With a large area and convenient location, this is the place chosen by many agencies and collectives when visiting Mai Chau. The average price is from 30,000 VND - 100,000 VND/dish
7. Hoa Ban Restaurant - Mai Chau town, Hoa Binh
Fresh food, beautiful view, spacious parking lot, airy interior space in the style of rustic and cozy stilt houses, Hoa Ban restaurant is a favorite stop for many visitors to Hoa Binh. In particular, this place also has extremely fresh salmon dishes such as salmon sashimi, salmon salad, grilled salmon... Reference price: 70,000 VND/item.
Photo: Maichau Ecolodge Fanpage
What to do - 4 great check-in stops in Mai Chau
1 - Thung Khe Pass
The Nordic hills, the white snow hills, or the place where the 4 seasons meet in one day... are the things that tourists pass on to each other to talk about a place that cannot be ignored when traveling to Mai Chau. That is Thung Khe Pass.
Located on National Highway 6, the road from Tan Lac to Mai Chau town, the pass winds across the majestic mountains of the Northwest.
All create a spectacular landscape with a 1-0-2 that makes anyone passing by ecstatic to watch. This place is an extremely famous check-in point.
In the morning, on the pass it is cool like spring, at noon the sun is clear like summer, in the afternoon the smoke spreads the autumn board, and when the sun is turned off, it turns into freezing. In front of the majestic natural scenery, there are currently spots for tourists to rest and take pictures.
Photo: bds.net
2 - Go Lao Waterfall
Go Lao Waterfall (also known as Mu Waterfall) is one of the white silk strips squeezed through the green Mai Chau mountains and forests. In particular, this place almost still retains the pristine beauty of nature. The clear, cool water dispels the summer heat, washing away all sorrows and worries. The sound of rushing water, the cool smell of the forest, bathing in the waterfall to your heart's content, you can sit and grill fish right on the water's edge, drop a few cans of beer soaked in the cool water, it really makes anyone who has ever visited this place want to come back many times.
Photo: maichau.ecolodge.asia
3 - Mai Chau villages
When it comes to exploring Mai Chau, it is impossible to ignore the community cultural tourism attractions in ethnic villages. Famous destinations you should visit such as Lac village, Pom Coong village, Van village.
Here, you can take a walk along the village, explore the lifestyle and activities of the people here. Or rent a bicycle to walk around the small winding roads in the middle of the rice fields, enjoy the cool and clear fragrance of heaven and earth. Or simply enjoy the evenings sleeping in an airy stilt house, participating in community activities such as stall dancing, campfire, eating grilled chicken, drinking can wine... right next to the stilt house. This is definitely an unforgettable sightseeing activity and experience.
Photo: http:vanhoanghethuat.vn
4 - Dimension Cave
Located not far from Lac village and Mai Chau town center, Afternoon Cave is the perfect destination for your 2 days 1 night trip in Mai Chau. As a national historical site, to explore Chieu Cave, you will have to climb 1200 steps to reach the cave entrance, from here you can see the panoramic view of the beautiful Mai Chau Valley.
Especially stepping into Chieu Cave, the magnificent beauty of hundreds of million-year-old tectonic stalactites glittering like silver can make any visitor ecstatic. Enjoy the cool air, touch the natural masterpieces and check in at the shimmering angles. Afternoon Cave is one of the highlights that make your trip unforgettable.
Photo: @huongoi_photosconcept
Reference outing schedule:
Day 1: Thung Khe Pass - Village - Go Lao Waterfall
- Morning: Hanoi - Hoa Binh hydropower plant - Thung Khe Pass - rest stop (check-in at noon and lunch)
- Afternoon: go to Go Lao waterfall
- Evening: Light a campfire, stay in a stilt house, enjoy local specialties at the rest spot and let the yeast of wine take you to sleep passionately
Day 2: Visiting the village - Afternoon Cave - going to the market to buy gifts
- Morning: Catch the sunrise through the windows of airy stilt houses, take a walk or bike to the neighboring villages, visit, explore, learn about the life of the indigenous ethnic community, or take a walk in the cool fields.
- Then visit Afternoon Cave - take photos to check in and then have lunch
- Afternoon: visit markets and souvenir stalls to choose some items as gifts, and get on the car to return to Hanoi
Photo: maichau.ecolodge.asia
Accommodation - 4 dreamy resorts in the heart of Mai Chau that make you not want to go back
Coming to Mai Chau, besides the most popular and affordable resting spots, are stilt houses in community tourism villages such as Lac village, Pom Coong, Ban Van... It is impossible to ignore the dreamy homestays and resorts in the middle of the mountains and forests.
1. Mai Chau Sunset Boutique - Pom Coong Village
It is a beautiful small hotel located in Pom Coong village, with a design that mixes a little modern European with decorative highlights with local marks. Mai Chau Sunset Boutique is only a 5-minute walk from Lac village, about 1.5km from Afternoon Cave, extremely convenient to explore these famous tourist attractions of Mai Chau.
- Reference room price: from 800,000 - 1,300,000 VND/night
- Room view: Overlooking the mountains and valleys
2. Mai Chau Ecolodge - Na Phong, Mai Chau
When it comes to the most "good" rest spots in Mai Chau, this place cannot be ignored. Large space, beautiful rooms, attentive staff, standard service. Especially, the green campus is imbued with the nature of the Northwest, this place meets all the resort and relaxation needs of couples, families or any group of guests with a full range of restaurants, bars, swimming pools, spas, gardens, car rental services...
- Reference room price: from 1,275,000 - 2,000,000 VND/night
- View of the room overlooking the mountains and valley
Photo: maichau.ecolodge.asia
3. Little Mai Chau homestay - Na Phong, Mai Chau
Comfortable, cozy, small, pretty, close and thoughtful, this place is likened to a beautiful village girl nestled in the middle of the mountains and forests. This place has many diverse rooms for couples, small groups to large groups with large rooms decorated with furniture and walls mainly wooden. It gives anyone who stays here a cozy and relaxing feeling. The homestay also has a restaurant system with local dishes, cooked by local chefs who are sure to make visitors satisfied.
- Reference room price: from 116,000 VND/night
- Mountain view
4. Mai Chau Mountain View Resort - Ban Lac 2, Chieng Chau, Mai Chau
As a resort with many high-class services according to 4-star standards located in the center of Mai Chau, this place includes a complex of 42 rooms, spa, restaurant, bar, swimming pool... and many rich utilities. The room system is equipped with modern amenities that allow you to rest and relax completely.
- Reference room rate: from 1,350,000 VND/night
- Mountain view
Budget for the trip
The estimated cost for the 2 days 1 night trip includes travel, meals, rest, and sightseeing tickets. You can refer to the following costs:
- Migration costs
- Cost of transportation to Mai Chau: If you do not have a personal vehicle, you can travel from Hanoi to Mai Chau by bus with a ticket price: 180,000 - 240,000 VND/way. The cost for a limousine is from 400,000 - 450,000 VND/turn. If traveling by motorbike, the cost of refueling ranges from 150,000 - 200,000 VND
- Cost of traveling to visit 8 villages in Mai Chau: If you rent an electric car: it costs about 250,000 VND/time and a comfortable shuttle to the market
- Bicycle rental fee to visit the field or wander the village: 30,000 VND/car
- Transportation fees between attractions: you can travel by motorbike or car, however the road from Lac village - Go Lao waterfall is relatively difficult to travel with cars, you can rent a motorbike for 100,000 - 150,000vnđ
Photo: vnexpress.net
2. Room rental cost
As Migo has suggested, the reference room price at vacation spots, the cost of renting a room will range from 100,000 - 150,000 VND/night to over 2,000,000 VND/night. This depends on where you choose to spend the night: in a stilt house, at a homestay or at luxury hotels. The advice is that you should try many different types of accommodation so that every time you come to Mai Chau, you will have a different interesting experience.
3. Dining costs in Mai Chau
Breakfast will usually be served free of charge at the hotel or resort where you stop. In addition, you can bring your own things to organize a BBQ party on the shore of the hydropower lake, by the waterfall... In the center of Mai Chau town, there are also many restaurants for you to choose from rice, hot pot, drinks, and grilled dishes. The cost of a meal in Mai Chau can range from 200,000 - 500,000 VND depending on your needs and preferences.
Photo: Maichausky
4. Cost of visiting Mai Chau
Most attractions in Mai Chau are free to enter. There are very few attractions you have to pay an entrance fee:
- Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant: 35,000 - 50,000 VND/ child - adult ticket - 10,000 - 20,000 VND/ child - adult to visit the open project
- Afternoon Cave: 10,000 VND/person
- Lac Village: 10,000 VND/person
- Thung Khe Pass: free
Note: Depending on each time of the year, especially weekends and peak tourist seasons, the prices of hotels, resorts, and homestays may "shift" slightly compared to the above reference price, you should contact to book in advance to receive the most accurate quote and avoid running out of rooms.
Synthetic Migo