Tour Itinerary
DAY 1 Hanoi Arrival – Capital Of Vietnam (N/A)
Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport and meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and an English-speaking guide. The driving distance is approximately 45 minutes.
Your visa should be pre-arranged or be sure that your visa-on-arrival letter is in your carry-on luggage. Please go to the customs desk as your first point of entry into the country and present these documents for a visa upon arrival. Fast-track service can be booked in advance.
Hanoi, or “River-bound City,” as its name literally means, is Vietnam’s capital with a thousand-year-old history dating back to 1010. The city’s fascinating beauty, which is characterized by unique cultural relics, ancient streets of antique houses, elegant French colonial buildings, tree-lined boulevards, and romantic lakes, has made it one of the most charming cities in Asia.
Overnight in Hanoi
Meals: N/A
DAY 2 Hanoi Full Day City Tour (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
The city tour begins with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Complex, which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the nation’s founder’s body is preserved (closed on Monday, Friday, and through October–November), the colonial Presidential Palace, originally the French Governor Office and a fine example of French architecture in Hanoi, and the rural-style Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. Stop by one of Hanoi’s icons, the One Pillar Pagoda, built in the 11th century in dedication to Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, or Buddha of Compassion, and reminiscent of a lotus blossom rising from a pond. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university in Vietnam, built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages, and outstanding Vietnamese scholars.
In the afternoon, continue the tour to one of the following museums of choice: the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Vietnamese History, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History, or the Museum of Ethnology. Next, head for Hoan Kiem Lake, the center point of Hanoi, whose name “The Return Sword Lake” originated from a legend of a sacred sword and is home to a rare endangered giant turtle species and visit Ngoc Son Temple on the lake. Take a one-hour cycle tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, with its ancient streets representing traditional trades from the past. Finish the tour at the Thang Long Opera Theatre with a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show.
Overnight in Hanoi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 3 Sapa Arrival – Fansipan Mountain (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Our driver will pick you up at the hotel in the Hanoi Old Quarter before departing for Sapa. The distance from Hanoi to Sapa is 345 km by expressway, so you only need about 5.5 hours to get to Sapa.
Arrive at your hotel in Sapa, check in to the hotel, then have lunch at the restaurant.
Afternoon: Fansipan Mountain by cable car
Our driver takes you to the cable car station and gives you a cable car ticker, then you spend 20 minutes with the cable car to enjoy the spectacular scenery.
Reach the altitude of 2800 m. You have a good time to see and take photos. Visit Pagoda, the spiritual destination, and trek up to 600 steps. You will reach the peak of Fansipan, the roof of Indochina (3143 m).
Come back to the cable car station; the driver will wait and take you back to Sapa town.
Overnight in Sapa
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 4 Medium Sapa Trekking – Back to Hanoi (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
After your breakfast at the hotel, at 8:30, you get picked up and transferred by car to a trekking point to Y Ling Ho Village, Muong Hoa Valley. Muong Hoa is the biggest valley in the Sapa region and is bottomed by a rocky river. This is one of the most scenic trekking paths in Sapa. Begin with a slope to the valley; the scenery of the rice terraces along your way is very beautiful and could be the highlight of the day. Cross the river on a small suspension bridge and continue the trek uphill. This is rather challenging when it is wet, but it offers you a spectacular view over the valley.
Finish your trek at Lao Chai Village, where your private vehicle awaits you. Get in your vehicle and keep viewing Muong Hoa Valley, as your drive is just following the length of the valley.
Lunch is served at a local restaurant on the way. The afternoon is spent driving back to Hanoi.
Drop-off at your hotel in Hanoi
Overnight in Ha Noi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 5 Hanoi – Ha Long – Overnight On Boat – UNESCO World Heritage (B,L,D)
After breakfast at your hotel,
Pick up and depart for Halong Bay
Landing at Tuan Chau Marina and Boarding time, check in your cabin. Followed by activities such as boarding the cruise for departure, a welcome drink will be served, a cruise briefing, safety instructions, and check-in cabins by the cruise manager.
A great lunch is served while cruising, passing by islets.
Kayaking around Luon Cave; visit Titop Island. Free choice of activities such as sunbathing, swimming, conquering the peak of the biggest island in Halong, and taking panoramic photos of Halong Bay in the afternoon
Happy Hour. Buy two beverages and get one free.
Cooking Class. Our chef will demonstrate the preparation of a particular Vietnamese cuisine in the dining room. Our guide will let you know what items will be prepared and will explain the process during the demonstration. Duration: about 20 to 30 minutes
Under the magnificent night sky, our luxury set menu dinner is served with a variety of Vietnamese and Asian foods.
Join the squid fishing on boat with our crews and enjoy the squid cooked with assistance from our chef or laze yourself with our happy-hour drinks at the bar.
Overnight in Cruise
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 6 Halong – Hanoi – Da Nang – Hoi An (Br)
Early start for a Tai Chi demonstration on the sundeck; tea and coffee available.
A light breakfast will be served in the restaurant.
Discover Surprise Cave, one of the biggest caves in Halong Bay, with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.
Back to the main boat for check-out. Please put your baggage out in the corridor and settle your bill at reception.
A buffet brunch will be served in the restaurant while the boat heads back to the harbor.
The boat anchors at the wharf. It is time for you to go ashore from the boat, and we arrange for a private car with a guide to pick you up upon disembarking and transfer you directly to Hanoi airport for a flight to Da Nang. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
At Da Nang airport, you are transferred to Hoi An ancient town by private car and guide. The transfer from Da Nang to Hoi An is approximately 40 minutes.
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Brunch
DAY 7 Hoi An Full Day Ancient Town & Traditional Handicraft Villages (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
In the morning, take a city tour to discover the charm of Hoi An as a renowned World Heritage Site. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between the 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles, and traditions. After receiving a brief introduction to the history, shape, and color of traditional lanterns, start a walking tour around the town to see its highlights. Sightseeing includes the town’s iconic 400-year-old Covered Bridge with a small temple attached to one side as a prominent example of Japanese architecture; the Museum of Trade Ceramics, which is an elegant Vietnamese-style wooden house built in 1858 showcasing antique ceramic artifacts; the 200-year-old Tan Ky House, typifying an ancient Chinese merchant residence; the Ong Temple, built in 1653 by Chinese settlers to worship Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general whose character stands for loyalty, bravery, and justice; and the local market, vibrant with colors and activities.
In the afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Thu Bon River to enjoy the countryside landscapes and land on Kim Bong village, where carpentry has been practiced since the 16th century as the village’s trademark, to visit some old-fashioned boatyards using timber as the main material. Afterwards, move on to Thanh Ha village to see its traditional ceramic production trade still alive and thriving despite the 500-year passage of time. Return to the hotel.
Note: Hoi An is famous for its speedy tailor-made clothes, which take 4 to 24 hours for tourists.
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 8 Hoi An – Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh (B)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
In the morning, transfer to Da Nang airport for a flight to Ho Chi Minh City. The flight time is approximately 1.5 hours.
Meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and guide. The transfer distance is approximately 30 minutes.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 9 Full Day Ho Chi Minh City Tour & Cu Chi Tunnels (B, L, D)
In the morning, meet your guide and transfer about 75 km north-west of downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Discover the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base for Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and the Americans. The tunnels, entirely hand-dug, formed a highly intricate network of interlinked multilevel passageways, at times stretching as far as the Cambodian border and totaling over 120 km in length. Its complexity was beyond imagination, containing meeting rooms, kitchens, wells, clinics, schools, depots, trenches, and emergency exits, all aimed at guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and self-contained enough to outlast prolonged sieges. Return to the city at noon for a rest.
In the afternoon, depart for Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Roman cathedral constructed more than 130 years ago by the French colonists using only materials brought from Marseilles and Chartres for its stained-glass windows. Proceed to the Sai Gon Post Office, a magnificent colonial structure planned and constructed by renowned French architect Gustave Eiffel in the early 1900s. Proceed to Cho Lon, also known as China Town, and stop at the Jade Emperor Temple (Phuoc Hai), one of the rare Taoist buildings in Vietnam, which was constructed in 1909 as a temple dedicated to the Lord of Heaven. It is still teeming with worshippers, many of whom are relaxing in the front gardens. It is loaded with hazy incense and wonderfully sculpted figures.
Dinner at the local restaurant
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 10 Ho Chi Minh Departure (B)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Check-out your hotel. Meet our guide & driver at the hotel lobby then transfer to Tan Son Nhat airport for flight.
End of our services!
Meals: Breakfast
