Upon arrival, a local guide with your private driver will pick you up and transfer you to your hotel.

Note: Normal check in time for hotels is 14:00

Overnight in Hanoi.

Distances and journey time: Noi Bai Airport to your chosen hotel in Hanoi (35km): 60mins.

Depart hotel for a walking tour to explore the famous Old Quarter, then Vietnam’s first university - the Temple of Literature, and the Museum of Ethnology. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant with authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

Water puppetry is a unique art that originated in Vietnam’s wet rice civilization. Drive 30 minutes from your hotel to a local house situated in a small alley of Hanoi to meet with a water puppet artisan.  Born into a family with a tradition of performing water puppetry in Nam Dinh province, Mr. Liem Phan acquired a passion for this folk art in his childhood. Inherited the talent & tradition from his father,  he has profound passion of playing with puppets, making puppets by creating a mini stage for water puppetry and bringing his solo performances to several countries outside Vietnam.  Sit down for a cup of tea and learn his stories about how the water puppet originated, his memorable experience traveling to different corners of the world to bring Vietnamese culture & folklores to international friends. Then join a 30-minute show seeing lion dances, buffalo fighting, rice farming, and boat racing, etc. at his private mini water puppet stage on his top house floor. After the show, get yourself in artisan’s role to handle puppets in the water or join with Mr. Liem Phan to make and paint the puppets.

Overnight in Hanoi

Depart Hanoi for 2-hour drive to Ninh Binh, a province known for its spectacular landscapes of rice paddies and limestone karsts. Visit the ancient Bich Dong Cave and Pagoda, a remarkable series of temples and communal houses dating back hundreds of years. Afterward, enjoy a scenic boat trip through the wetlands of the Van Long Reserve with spectacular views of its 32 stunning grottoes. This area has recently become famous as one of the filming locations for the blockbuster movie “Kong: Skull Island”.

Overnight in Ninh Binh

In the morning, leave Ninh Binh for Halong Bay, a stunning UNESCO World Heritage site with its 3,000 islands of towering limestone dotting the bay and Gulf of Tonkin.

Arrive at noon and proceed with check-in formalities. After a welcome onboard, lunch will be served while cruising towards the bay. In the afternoon, enjoy some visits and/or activities (depending on each boat’s itinerary) or just spend some time relaxing on board. Towards the end of the day the boat sets anchor for the night among the karst formations. Dinner is served on board.

Overnight on Halong Bay.

Distances and journey time: 3h 30minutes

Ninh Binh to Halong Bay (160km): 3hrs30mins

Early in the morning and depending on the season, you will wake up to enjoy the sunrise over the aquamarine waters of the bay. Breakfast is served on board (brunch on some boats) while the cruise will tour around the bay until you disembark at the end of the morning.

 Then transfer back to Hanoi for a flight to Hue.

Upon arrival, your guide will transfer to hotel in Hue.

Overnight in Hue

Start the tour at the Imperial Citadel of Hue where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945 then continue to the Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue’s best-preserved religious monument. Have lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

In the afternoon, you will be driven to the countryside to visit the Tomb of Tu Duc. Afterwards, journey on to Khai Dinh’s Tomb, designed in traditional Vietnamese style with a European touch making it unique from the other tombs in Hue.

Before heading back to the hotel, take time to stroll around Dong Ba Market with the guide. The market is another of the must see sites in Hue, with stalls teeming with color and life.

Overnight in Hue

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Da Nang via the Pass of Ocean Clouds and drop down to the wonderfully photogenic fishing village of Lang Co.

 On arrival in Danang, visit the Cham Museum, containing the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world. Continue to Hoi An, a major Asian trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose architecture and relaxed lifestyle has changed little over the years.

Transfer to the hotel.

Overnight in Hoi An

Pick up at hotel and transfer or bike to a local farm in Tra Que village. A short stroll will take you around the vegetable garden and then you can join the farmers in preparing the land and fertilizing it with seaweed from the local lake, raking the ground, sowing, watering, picking vegetables, and many other gardening activities. After that, you will take a short rest and enjoy soft foot massage before getting to preparing lunch with a local family.

A delicious farm-to-table lunch including typical local food like ‘Tam Huu’ spring roll, Banh Xeo or local pancake is prepared by an expert chef. You also can join the cooking on these meals.

After lunch time, transfer back to your hotel in the Hoi An town.

In the afternoon, take a short walking tour to explore Hoi An town. It was a major Asian trading port in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and its architecture and relaxed lifestyle have changed little over the years.

Visit a local workshop and learn how to make your own miniature Hoi An lantern taught by the workshop staff. Take your unique lantern home as souvenir.

Overnight in Hoi An

After breakfast at hotel, transfer to Da Nang airport for short flight to Ho Chi Minh city.

Upon arrival, meet your guide and driver for transfer to your hotel.

In the afternoon, experience Old Saigon with a half-day city tour of historic landmarks: Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, City Hall & Reunification Palace. Final stop is Ben Thanh market, the symbol of Saigon.

***Optional tour: A O Show. Venue: Saigon Opera House

The name ‘A O’ derives from ‘Lang Pho’, which means ‘village and city’. The show depicts the charming beauty and cultural richness of Vietnamese life in the countryside, in contrast with the nation’s racing urbanization. The show is a unique mix of bamboo circus, acrobatic acts, dance, and theatrical visual art. The live music echoes Vietnamese Southern work songs. All in all, this beautiful blend of genres creates a unique stage language, which well captures the essence of Vietnam’s fascinating culture.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh

In the morning, you will be driven to Cai Be, board on a local boat along Mekong river with visits to family-run companies which make rice pancakes, puffed corn cookies and coconut milk candy. Enjoy lunch with specialties of the Mekong Delta in the ambience of an ancient house. After lunch, get on the cruise for a garden center, sample fruits, wine, traditional music and crossing Co Chien River. In the late afternoon, come back to Saigon.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh

Free at leisure until transfer to Tan Son Nhat airport for your onward flight.

Note: check-out time is 12pm

Our services include:

• Accommodation in a shared twin or shared double room
• Meals as mentioned (B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner)
• English or French speaking guide (for other languages and a national guide supplements apply)
• Tours and transfers as mentioned by private air conditioned vehicle
• Entrance fees for mentioned visits
• Boat trip as mentioned in the itinerary

Our services do not include:

• Other meals than mentioned
• Other services than mentioned
• International and domestic Flights
• Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature
• Tips, Travel insurance

Notes:

• We strongly recommend the purchase of travel insurance (covering emergency medical evacuation) for trips to Vietnam.