Welcome to Vietnam! Upon arrival at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport, you will be greeted by a friendly local representative. From the airport, they will transfer you directly to your hotel, making for a smooth and comfortable start to your adventure. Check into your room, get settled, and enjoy your first evening in Vietnam as you desire! (This service is on a private basis.)

Water Puppetry Show

This evening, you will be provided with tickets for a traditional Water Puppetry performance. A special art form unique to Northern Vietnam, this show offers the perfect introduction to traditional Vietnamese folk culture. (This service is on a group basis.)

Hanoi

Vietnam's capital is rich in a culture touched by French and Chinese influences over its 1,000-year-long history. One can spend days in the Old Quarter, where fashion houses, art galleries and coffee shops make up the city's most charismatic district. Hanoi features hundreds of serene lakes, great for people watching and strolling an afternoon away. Take an evening to dine at a modern, cosmopolitan restaurant and enjoy a night on the town, but don't forget to take an evening to enjoy the thriving street food scene, one of the city's primary attractions.

Full Day City Tour

This morning after breakfast, you'll begin your city tour with a visit to Ba Dinh Square and Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, his final resting place, a house on stilts. Next to it you'll see the One Pillar Pagoda, built by King Ly Thai To in 1049. Next, visit West Lake, Quan Thanh Temple and the impressive Tran Quoc Pagoda, located on a small island in the center of the lake.

In the afternoon, you'll visit the Temple of Literature. Built in 1076, Vietnam's first university was established to educate royalty, mandarins, and members of the elite. The university functioned for 700 years, and its gardens and well preserved architecture offer a fascinating glimpse into Vietnam's past. Afterwards, visit Ngoc Son Temple and explore the Old Quarter's 36 streets. This bustling area is home to thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. Finish your tour on Hang Gai street - a silk shoppers paradise! After a full day of exploring you will be returned to your hotel to relax. (This service is on a private basis.)

Ha Long Bay Arrival & Activities

This morning, you will leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. For your Ha Long Bay excursion, you will arrive in the bay and board your beautiful boat to get settled and begin exploring!

On your cruise, you will have the opportunity to discover some of the most beautiful treasures scattered across the Bay, and of course, while you are on board, you can take advantage of the cruise’s facilities and services. Both lunch and dinner will be served on board for you today, utilizing an excellent menu of fresh seafood. Following a day full of activities on the water, the vessel anchors at a very quiet location for your overnight stay. Sleep soundly, as you are rocked to sleep by the waters. (This service is on a group basis.)

Ha Long Bay

Seemingly infinite, the towering islands of Ha Long Bay form a landscape that is other worldly. Named a World Heritage site in 1994, Ha Long Bay offers some of the most beautiful scenes in all of Asia, whether you are lounging on a beach, exploring the inside of a hidden cave or cruising along the water in your traditional Chinese junk style boat. Located just a few hours outside of Hanoi, you can easily trade in the crowded streets of the city, to sail between the striking karst formations instead. Ha Long Bay means "Bay of the Descending Dragons" and mythology says the islands were created from the jewels and jade dropped from the mouth of dragons sent by the Gods. No wonder it's so magical!

Ha Long Bay Activities & Departure

Wake up this morning among the crisp and fresh air of the bay and make the most of any time left for activities. After enjoying a tea break, the boat will continue to cruise quietly through spectacular limestone formations, in more isolated regions of the bay for spectacular viewpoints. You will return to the Ha Long Bay Harbor around 11:00 AM, from where you will be transferred back to Hanoi. (This service is on a group basis.)

Cooking Class

In the morning, you’ll be picked up from your hotel and transferred to a private house where you’ll learn to cook some typical Vietnamese dishes representing the north of Vietnam.

Enjoy a special "La Han" or Vietnamese welcome tea as you are introduced to Vietnamese cuisine and the ingredients that make up a traditional meal. Take a short walk to Chau Long Market and enjoy a tour highlighting the more unusual offerings, taking plenty of pictures. After the market, you'll begin your cooking class, learning the intricacies of this unique cuisine in a hands on, educational environment. Your tour will include printed recipes to take home, as well as samples of local fruit, regional oddities like green bean cake, quail eggs, and more. Enjoy the meal and a glass of beer or wine before being transferred back to your hotel for a free evening. (This service is on a private basis.)

Today, you will be picked up at your hotel in 4:00PM and transferred to the airport in good time to board your domestic flight to Danang. Upon arrival in Danang, you will be greeted at the airport by your driver and transferred to your hotel in Hoi An. (This service is on a private basis.)

Hoi An

There is a reason we encourage first time travelers to Vietnam to visit Hoi An. Following the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities, travel in Hoi An feels effortless. There is little modern motor traffic, and the shops and restaurants are mainly tailored for tourists. A romantic cafe culture is featured in French colonial buildings, along with a thriving art scene, that can keep you busy shopping for days. Hoi An is also a great base from which to enjoy a couple of beach days, or to venture inland for a cultural experience with local farmers.

Walking Tour

You will start a walking tour through this charming small town composed of hundreds of historic houses, congregation halls, pagodas and other structures. Its buildings and streets reflect the indigenous and foreign influences this town had, defining it as a unique heritage and multi-cultural site.

There’s plenty to see in this delightful town, such as the Japanese Covered Bridges, the Pottery Museum, the 200 years old Tan Ky House, Chua Ong Pagoda and the vibrant local market. You'll have the chance to visit all of them in this walking tour. (This service is on a private basis.)

Farmer to Fisherman Experience

Today's cultural adventure offers an exclusive look into both the local farming and fishing communities. Accompanied by your expert guide, your day begins with a leisurely cycle across country roads. This will be your chance to witness local Vietnamese rural life first hand. Hop off your bike to explore an organic vegetable village, where you will help to water and plant vegetables, and hoe the soil with the instruction of a local farmer. Watch the ducks, as they swim along the rice farm, or observe the farmers tending to their crops, as they go about their daily routines. You will have plenty of opportunities to engage with the friendly local people, who will be greeting you throughout the day.

From the farm, your adventure continues on a Hoi An Eco-tour boat where the river meets the Cua Dai Sea. This will be your time to meet and get to know the local fishermen, as you enjoy a hands-on experience of traditional net fishing. You will also get to try your hand at paddling the unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats, as you glide along the waterways of coconut palm paradise. Continue biking to a local house in a rice village and be welcomed with a glass of passion fruit juice, where you'll learn all about wet rice cultivation and have lunch with a local family. At the end of this cultural experience, you will be driven back to your hotel to reminisce on another beautiful day. (This service is on a private basis.)

Today, you will be picked up at your hotel in Hoi An and transferred to the Danang airport in good time to board your domestic flight to 4:00PM. Upon arrival in 4:00PM, you will be greeted at the airport by your driver and transferred to your hotel. (This service is on a private basis.)

A O Show at Saigon Opera House.

The À O Show captures, in the engaging style of contemporary circus, much of the uniqueness of Vietnam. A free-ranging dreamscape largely unconstructed by linear plotlines, the hour-long show fuses dance, acrobatics and live music into a theatrical drama tracing the arc of Vietnam’s passage from a rural village culture to the modern, urbanizing society it is today.

Ho Chi Minh City

While much of Vietnam is set in its traditions, and content to live life at a slower pace, HCMC is where the nation's urban warriors congregate to work hard and play harder. The city that some still call Saigon has been the driving force leading Vietnam into the 21st century, and the result is a whirlpool of activity that one cannot help but be swept into. Remnants of Vietnam's history pockmark the city, creating a charming contrast of old and new.

City Tour

A trip to Ho Chi Minh provides important insight into the country's most dynamic city - a vital economic hub, bustling with life. It shows the reconciliation between American and Chinese influence - the city peppered with modernity yet never losing its Vietnamese heritage and traits. Modern offices, skyscrapers, Chinese style pagodas and food stalls, and street vendors on each corner all create this dynamic, multi-faceted urban area.

Start the morning in China Town, stopping over at Thien Hau, a 150 year old Chinese Temple. Continue to the Jade Emperor Pagoda - one of the most spectacular temples in Ho Chi Minh City, filled with statues of phantasmal divinities and monsters. Afterwards, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, you'll visit the War Remnants Museum, the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the historic Central Post Office, and finally Ben Thanh Market for shopping!

Ho Chi Minh City - Cai Be Mekong River Cruise - Can Tho

After escaping from Ho Chi Minh City’s urban sprawl, you will travel to Ben Tre. Enjoy a boat cruise along a tributary of the Mekong, before taking a short walk through various local workshops observing cottage industries. Continue the boat trip to My Long village, walking through the hamlet to see rice paper production and enjoy some rice cake. Following the Cai Son Canal, you'll visit a coconut workshop and see traditional processing before stopping at a bee garden to enjoy some fruit and honey tea to the sounds of local music. Visit a candy mill and visit a farmer who makes sleeping mats. Bike on rural tracks or take a Xe Loi (motorized rickshaw) through coconut groves, diverse vegetable patches, and jump back on the boat to reach Green Garden Riverside restaurant for lunch. After the tour, you'll be taken to your hotel to relax for the evening.

Can Tho - Ho Chi Minh City

Today, after breakfast, you will be driven to Cai Rang for a boat cruise to its floating market, one of the best on the Mekong Delta, with good views of the riverside lifestyle along the way. You will then journey back to Ho Chi Minh City. En route, you will call in at the beautiful and ancient You will drive further into the Mekong Delta to Can Tho. Upon arrival you’ll call in at the Munir Ansay – an ancient Khmer style pagoda, renowned for its unique structural decorations. You’ll then drive to your hotel in Can Tho where you’ll spend the night.

Munir Ansay Pagoda has many statues and pillars with sophisticated decoration; the main gate was built in the shape of the towers illustrative of Angkor architecture.You will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon with time to freshen up in your hotel before the evening.

Today, you will be picked up at your hotel and transferred to the airport for your flight. (This service is on a private basis.)