ITINERARY
Upon arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International airport, you will be greeted by our guide and transferred to your hotel. You will have a welcome dinner followed by a water puppet performance and an overnight stay in Hanoi.
You will begin in charming Hanoi, Vietnam’s artistic and intellectual capital. You will explore the fascinating Old Quarter and its hundreds of specialty shops selling silk clothing, lacquer ware, embroidered linens, furniture, bamboo, cooking utensils, ceremonial objects and more. You can also shop for impressive modern art in the city’s numerous galleries. Also, you’ll visit Hanoi’s main cultural attractions, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, his house on stilts, the One Pillar Pagoda, Museum of Ethnology and the Temple of Literature. You will have an overnight stay.
Today you leave Hanoi for Halong Bay (a World Natural Heritage site) via the Red River Delta. Upon arrival, you will set out on a junk cruise on the bay while lunch is served. You will pass through the magical bay, where thousands of sculpted limestone islands rise from the waves like dragons’ teeth. After lunch, you will take a short trek to a nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay, swimming on a quiet beach or sunbathing on the sundeck. At sunset, you can kayak or simply take a bamboo row boat to discover a water tunnel with many coral reefs in a scenic lagoon. Back on board, you can enjoy watching the peaceful sunset and later unwind at a restaurant. You will stay overnight onboard.
You’ll wake up on the bay to the sounds of waves and birds welcoming the new day and take part in Tai Chi Class. You will have an opportunity to view the sunrise over the bay and after breakfast, visit a beautiful limestone grotto. You will have a walk back to the boat for a final glimpse of Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock. Then you will drive back to Hanoi and stay overnight.
You will go to HCMC in the morning and in the afternoon have a private tour of the country’s commercial center and home to a growing number of upscale restaurants and shops. You will visit Chinatown, the Thien Hau Pagoda, the Reunification Palace, the Opera House, the cathedral and the office Colonial style post office. You should also visit the powerful War Remnants Museum. You’ll stroll through the city’s main shopping boulevard with fashionable boutiques and hill tribe crafts, high quality linens and house-wares. You will have an overnight stay in HCMC.
The Mekong Delta is the southernmost region of Vietnam and is often referred to as the rice bowl of Vietnam as it produces three crops of rice per year. The fertile Mekong Delta is also famous for its tropical fruits and flowers.
You will leave HCMC to lush My Tho, where you will board a private boat to go through the green vegetation of the canals to an orchard, where guests are treated to a delicious lunch in a local restaurant in the heart of the Mekong, complete with succulent tropical fruits. You also visit the snake farm, Dong Tam, that breeds snakes for, among other things, snake wine. Then you will head back to HCMC for an overnight stay.
In the morning you will enjoy a half-day private excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels consist of more than 200km of underground tunnels. This main axis system has many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels. The network included innumerable trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens. Today the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction giving the visitor a unique experience and a feel of what underground life was like during the U.S.-Vietnam War. The afternoon is free at leisure and you will stay overnight in HCMC.
There is no activity planned for today so you are free to go for souvenir shopping until transfer to the HCMC airport for your departing flight.
ITINERARY
- Accommodation in a twin or double room with daily breakfast
- Lunch or dinner as specified in the itinerary
- Private transportation with English or Mandarin speaking guide
- Services of a driver and private air-conditioned vehicle during all tours and transfers.
- Private boat for sightseeing in My Tho
- Entrance fees for all visits as mentioned in the itinerary
- Mineral water is available as complementary
- International & Domestic flight tickets
- Meals, if not specified in the itinerary
- Gratuities for guides and drivers
- Visa stamping fee at the airport (45US$ in Vietnam paid by cash at the airport)
- Travel insurance (we highly recommend that you purchase adequate insurance)
- Personal expenses, such as laundry, telephone, drinks, etc. All other services not specified in the itinerary
- All other services not specified in the itinerary
- Not included VAT
