Tour Itinerary
Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City (N/A)
Ho Chi Minh City arrival, welcome and transfer to hotel
Upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, a professional tour guide and driver will introduce you to the city’s highlights, including food, drink, traffic, and culture, and transfer you to your hotel.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City (B)
Have a breakfast at your hotel.
9:00 am: Visit the Independence Palace, once South Vietnam’s President’s home, a five-story palace preserved in late 1960s style. Take a leisurely tour of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, a picturesque spot with French colonist influences, and the North Vietnamese tank attack in 1975.
Walk towards Nguyen Hue walking street to visit the Saigon Central Post Office, a stunning building designed by Gustave Eiffel with beautiful indoor decorations.
Enjoy lunch or drink before visiting the War Remnant Museum in Ho Chi Minh, offering unique all-sided views of the Vietnam War.
Visit the famous Ben Thanh Market, open since 1870, for daily needs, souvenirs, and local street food. Return to the hotel for city exploration or relaxation.
Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City – Cai Be – Can Tho (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Visit Cai Be, visit Cao Dai temple, and embark on a private boat cruise on the Mekong River, experiencing canals, orchards, and craft workshops. Explore the ancient Phu Chau pagoda, meet locals, and enjoy lunch at an open-air restaurant, where you can try the famous elephant ear fish. Enjoy a delicious fruit tasting while rowing a small rowboat in canals, then transfer to Vinh Long and Can Tho, arriving late in the afternoon. Check into your hotel and relax. Enjoy free time on your own to discover the city located on the Mekong River side.
Day 4: Can Tho – Ho Chi Minh City (B, L)
Breakfast at hotel, then transfer to pier for boat trip to Cai Rang floating market, Mekong Delta’s largest. Enjoy colorful atmosphere, sampans filled with goods, and early morning sales. Leave the market and continue the boat trip through the canals and visit a fruit garden (Option – replace the garden with the nursery field by the river). Return to An Binh Market for fish, fruits, and vegetables, then visit Binh Thuy ancient house, featuring the orchid garden where “The Lover” was filmed.
Transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 5: Ho Chi Minh City – Tay Ninh – Hoi An (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
8:00 am: Visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, an underground city where Viet Cong conducted resistance against American troops. Over 250km long, dug over 20 years using pickaxes and shovels. The tour includes special tunnel visits to the Ben Duoc Memorial Temple in 1993.
Visit the Cao Dai Temple, a sacred Vietnamese attraction influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Roman Catholicism, attend midday mass, have lunch, and return to the city center.
Upon arrival at Da Nang airport, a professional tour guide and driver will introduce the city’s highlights, including food, drink, traffic, and culture, before driving along the beautiful coastline.
Day 6: Hoi An City Tour (B, D)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Tour guide will pick you up at the lobby and start the tour of Hoi An ancient town. Spend the first half of the day exploring the small, charming streets of this 16th-century trading port, where architectural motifs draw on Chinese, Japanese, French and Vietnamese styles. You’ll visit several unique locations such as Tan Ky House, Chinese Embassy, Japanese Bridge, and Fujian Pagoda.
After dinner, you will have free time to explore Hoi An. You will have an this opportunity to see the exquisitely lighted Hoi An lantern, take a photo, or just relax and take in the ambiance.
Hoi An hotel overnight.
Day 7: Hoi An – My Son Holy Land (B, L)
Have break at your hotel.
8:00 am: Tour guide and driver pick up hotel guests for a half-day Champa Kingdom excursion to My Son, a sacred valley, an intellectual and religious center, and a potential Cham monarch burial site. UNESCO’s World Culture Heritage Site features 70 ruined architectural works from the 7th–13th centuries. The tour guide explains cultural, historical, and architectural values and attends the Champa dancing show.
After the excursion, travel back to the city.
Overnight in Hoi An hotel.
Day 8: Hoi An – Hue (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
8:00 am: Pick up from hotel, travel to Hue via Da Nang, visit Cham Museum, My Khe beach, Linh Ung Pagoda, take photos of fishermen, drive to Hue, and make a stop at Hai Van pass for ocean view.
Arrive in Hue, enjoy lunch, and visit Thien Mu Pagoda, a 1601-year-old spiritual highlight with an octagon tower and stunning Perfume River view.
The tour includes visiting the Hue Citadel, the only imperial city symbol in Vietnam, and exploring the city’s three parts: Kinh Thanh, Hoang Thanh, and Cam Thanh. The most beautiful sites are concentrated in this area.
Day 9: Hue – Ha Noi (B, L)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Enjoy a boat trip to Minh Mang’s tomb, an architectural masterpiece built by his successor, Thieu Tri, with 10,000 workers and artisans, and then take a flight to Hanoi.
Explore Thuy Bieu Village by boat along the Huong River, renowned for its divine grapefruit trees. Enjoy the pleasant aroma and harvested straw while biking around the village. Visit a temple dedicated to the village protector and a traditional garden house for photo opportunities and interaction with villagers.
Participate in a cooking class featuring Hue’s selected specialties, enjoy lunch in the village, return to the city, and take a short flight to Hanoi capital.
Upon arrival at Noi Bai airport, a professional tour guide and driver will provide a 45-minute drive to Hanoi Old Quarter, briefing about city attractions, culture, traffic, and cuisine.
Day 10: Ha Noi (B)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
9:00 am: The tour guide picks up at the 11th-century Temple of Literature, explores the city’s symbol, Khue Van Cac, visits the World Heritage “stone steles” of outstanding students, and explores Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam’s first national university.
Visit the city’s museums, including National History, Hoa Lo, Museum of Ethnology, and Fine Art, before taking a break for lunch or drinks at your own expense.
In Hanoi, visit the French Quarter, a “little Paris” with boulevards, government offices, and a square. Visit Ho Chi Minh City’s mausoleum, presidential palace, and one-pillar pagoda. Explore Quan Thanh Temple, an 11th-century temple worshipping the Tran Vu gods. Take a romantic road across West Lake and stop at Tran Quoc Pagoda, dating back to the 6th century.
Explore Hanoi’s 15th-century Hanoi Old Quarter, a vibrant city museum with 36 streets of unique products, tube houses, alleys, temples, open markets, and street vendors, stimulating all senses through walking.
Water puppet shows, first introduced in the 11th century, depict the daily life, culture, and beliefs of Vietnamese people using puppets on water, often incorporating traditional music performances.
Come back to hotel. End of the day
Day 11: Ha Noi – Mai Chau (B, L)
8:00 am: Visit Muong village, Thung Khe pass, Mai Chau town, and enjoy panoramic views of the valley, 145 km from Hanoi, with harmonious landscapes, green mountain ranges, rice terraces, and White Thai ethnic villages.
Arrive in Mai Chau, check in, and enjoy lunch. Explore Lac, Na Phon, and Poong Com villages, witnessing rice field work, weaving crafts, and encountering locals before returning to accommodation.
Note: A private traditional music and dancing show by locals is available for an additional fee of $35 per group, and reservations can be made through our guide.
Day 12: Mai Chau – Ninh Binh (B, L)
Enjoy a peaceful breakfast before traveling to Mai Hich, where you can explore beautiful landscapes like villages, rice fields, mountains, and streams. Interact with friendly locals and enjoy tea at their houses.
Enjoy lunch in Mai Chau before departing for Ninh Binh, stopping to meet locals and take photos. Arrive late in the afternoon and check into your accommodation.
Day 13: Ninh Binh – Ha Noi (B, L)
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel, then visit Tam Coc, famous for its “Halong Bay on land,” and take a private sampan boat cruise along the Ngo Dong River.
Continue on to the Bich Dong, a typical pagoda in the Red River Delta’s rural area, constructed in the fifteenth century. When you get there, you’ll cross a stone bridge to Chua Ha, where you can take more than 100 stairs to get to Chua Trung, the cave pagoda with its distinctive clay figures. After that, you’ll climb to Chua Thuong. Not only do you get the chance to study Buddhism, but you also get to take in some breathtaking views of the countryside.
Enjoy some local cuisine in Tam Coc before traveling straight to Hoa Lu, which served as Vietnam’s capital from the 10th to the 11th centuries. Hoa Lu, surrounded by limestone mountains and rivers, offers a picturesque setting with temples dedicated to Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang and Emperor Le Dai Hanh, who played crucial roles in Vietnam’s independence after a thousand-year Chinese rule.
Upon completion of the day, transfer from Ninh Binh to Hanoijourney,npassing thegh the Red Delta, delta, offerinchanceseto taketunities to capturfields andresque rice fields and serene countryside.
Day 14: Ha Noi – Halong Bay (B, L, D)
8:00 am: Pick up from hotel in Hanoi Old Quarter, drive 3-hours to Halong Bay, pass villages and rice fields, stop for restroom, arrive at harbor, and receive warm reception.
12:30 pm: Cruise in a boat with safety instructions and explore Halong Bay, one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Enjoy a Vietnamese buffet lunch and visit the Tung Sau area for the cultured pearl fishery. You can see for yourself the process of making the jewel, from culturing to harvesting and sculpting. Moreover, you have a chance to go kayaking based on your preference. Enjoy a busy space with the pearl maker; you can experience the completion of pearls. Titop Beach offers a refreshing atmosphere with clean water and smooth white sand, perfect for relaxation. Top Titov Island for panoramic Halong Bay views. Enjoy free time sailing to the Luon Bo area, anchor overnight, and book a massage service.
6:30 pm: Enjoy a cooking class on the sundeck, learn how to make Vietnamese spring rolls, enjoy Happy Hour, relax, and watch the sunset over Halong Bay, followed by a Deluxe Vietnamese BBQ set menu.
Dinner evening activities include leisure time, watching movies, relaxing, playing cards, chess, reading magazines, and fishing from the boat on the Pelican Halong Cruise.
Day 15: Halong Bay – Ha Noi (B, L)
06:30 am: Early morning Tai Chi session on the sundeck, followed by breakfast in the dining room with a bay view, followed by a tender transfer to Sung Sot Cave. Visit Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay’s largest, in 45 minutes. Cruise back to Tuan Chau Wharf, settle bills, enjoy buffet brunch, and enjoy bay scenery.
11:30 am – 12:00 pm: Disembark
The driver will greet youharbor,e harbor and then take you back to Hanoi, wherinyou’ll rest and be dropped off at your hotel in the Old Quarter.
Day 16: Ha Noi – Departure (B)
Have breakfast at your hotel.
Driver will pick you up from the hotel lobby in Hanoi Old Quarter for 45 minutes to Noi Bai airport, with international flights requiring a 3-hour arrival.
Note: International flights require you to be at the airport 3 hours and domestic is 2 hours before departure time.
