BRIEF ITINERARY
Day |
Itinerary |
Meal |
DAY 1 |
SAI GON ARRIVAL |
|
DAY 2 |
SAI GON FULL DAY CITY TOUR & CU CHI TUNNELS |
B/L |
DAY 3 |
SAI GON - CAI BE FLOATING MARKET – SAIGON |
B/L |
DAY 4 |
SAI GON - DA NANG - HOI AN CITY TOUR |
B/L |
DAY 5 |
HOI AN – HUE BOAT TRIP |
B/L |
DAY 6 |
HUE – HA NOI HALF DAY CITY TOUR |
B/L |
DAY 7 |
HA NOI - HA LONG / OVERNIGHT ON CRUISE |
B/L/D |
DAY 8 |
HA LONG BAY - HA NOI |
B/L |
DAY 9 |
HA NOI DEPARTURE |
|
DAY 1: HO CHI MINH ARRIVAL
Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to your hotel. Ho Chi Minh City formerly named Saigon is the largest city and economic center of Vietnam always bustled with activities of modern life. It is where businesses converge and shoppers indulge themselves into unlimited choices. However the city also carries with it a rich historical legacy in contrast with its dazzling glamor.
Meal: Not included
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Saigon.
DAY 2: FULL DAY EXPORE CU CHI TUNNEL & CITY TOUR
Morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer about 75 km North west of downtown Ho Chi Minh City. to visit the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of 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 stretched 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 for guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and self-contained enough to outlast prolonged sieges.
Afternoon, tour in the city starting first with the
Reunification Palace, which was formerly the South Vietnam President’s residence and symbol of the Southern Administration’s reign until end of April 1975. Next, stop at Saigon
Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Roman cathedral built over 130 years ago by the colonial French with materials entirely imported from Marseilles. Call in
Sai Gon Post Office, a fine colonial building which was designed and built in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel. Move on to Cho Lon or the city’s
China Town where you will visit the
Jade Emperor Temple (Phuoc Hai), a rare Taoist structure in Vietnam built in 1909 in dedication to the Lord of Heaven. End of the second day.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch,
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Ho Chi Minh
DAY 3: FULL DAY MEKONG DETLA ( VINH LONG)
Morning, pick up at your hotel and transfer about 136km to Vinhlong, a riverside town located in the Mekong Delta. Enjoy a boat cruise to the Caibe floating market with sellers and buyers bargaining and exchanging goods from their boats, and then go to Hoa Binh Phuoc islet where the maze o shady creeks will surely fascinate you. You will have a chance to mingle with local peasants, learn the secrets of their bonsai gardening. Visit local homes where the families produce tiles and ceramics; drop into rice-paper mills and coconut-candy mills; and observe daily country life. A typical Vietnamese lunch at a local home will be arranged.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch,
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Saigon.
DAY 4: HO CHI MINH – DA NANG – HOI AN CITY TOUR / FLIGHT VN ( 9.55- 11.55)
Have breakfast at hotel. You are transferred to airport for flight to Da Nang. Arrive Da Nang, guide meet you and take you to Hoi An. Enjoy lunch at local restaurant.
Take half day Hoi An city tour. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles and traditions. The town exemplifies a fascinating fusion of cultures between Vietnam and the outside world including China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. Your sightseeing will include the 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.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch,
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Saigon.
DAY 5: HOI AN – HUE CITY TOUR
Have breakfast at hotel. 7.30 Transferred to Hue via the Hai Van Pass (Ocean Cloud Pass). Enjoy a stunning headland-and-bay panoramic view from the pass, which for miles hugs the mountainside along the shoreline and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Have lunch on the way.
PM: Enjoy a half-day city tour to visit Hue Citadel - Vietnam’s former imperial capital and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. With an area of 500ha and a system of three circles of ramparts, namely from outside to inside:
Kinh Thanh Hue (Hue Capital Citadel), Hoang Thanh (Royal Citadel) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Citadel) and
Khai Dinh Tomb, Hue Citadel is the result of the interminglement of many architectural trends: European and Asian, as well as ancient and modern. After that visit Dong Ba market for shopping.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hue.
DAY 6: HUE – HANOI HALF DAY CITY TOUR/ FLIGHT VN ( 10.50 – 12.00)
Have breakfast at hotel. Guide meet you at hotel, transfer to Hue airport for flight to Hanoi.
Arrive in Hanoi, local guide welcome you and take you to restaurant for lunch.
PM: Our guide will meet you at hotel and transfer to visit
Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo Prison was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners (
The French called the prison Maison Centrale), and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War when it was sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton". The prison was demolished during the 1990s, though the gatehouse remains as a museum - with a great deal of valuable objects which reflecting the war. Then continue visit
Temple of Literature – the first university in Vietnam. Enjoy
water puppet show in Thang Long Theater, you will be transferred to restaurant for dinner. Drop you at hotel.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hanoi
DAY 7: HANOI – HALONG BAY/ OVERNIGHT ON CRUISE
Morning pickup at 8:00 AM from your hotel for transfer to Halong Bay, which is about 160 km or 3.5-hour drive away. The transfer is approximately 3 hours. You will see some rural areas of the Red River Delta with plenty of chances to take photos of Vietnamese farmers working in paddy fields and you may stop on the way to admire the local scenery.
Arrive in Halong City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk right after the welcome drink is served. Start cruising while having lunch on board and enjoy the mighty bay view.
Arrive in Halong City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk when your journey across Halong Bay starts. Halong Bay meaning Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese as legend has it that it was where a holly dragon landed down from sky. The bay, famous as one of the world’s wonders and heritage sites whose formation dates back 500 million years, consists of around 2,000 karst islands and islets scattered over an area of 1,553 km2.
After lunch, take a short trek to a nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay dotted with golden sails, go swimming on a quiet beach or sunbath on the sundeck. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with an opportunity to interact with local people who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. An optional kayaking trip is available weather permitting. Back onboard enjoy a lavish dinner and enjoy the bay view at sunset. Spend a night on board.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight on Cruise
DAY 8: HALONG BAY - HANOI
Wake up with Tai Chi exercises on the sundeck and continue cruising the Bay. Enjoy breakfast buffet in the restaurant, then visit the limestone grotto. Enjoy lunch on board and disembark in Halong City around 12.00 noon and private transfer to Hanoi airport. Say goodbye to the crew then transfer to Hanoi. Arrive at your hotel in the late afternoon.
11:00: Transfer back Hanoi by private car.
15:30: Arrive Hanoi, visit
Ngoc Son Temple and Hoan Kiem Lake. Drop you at hotel.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch,
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hanoi.
DAY 9: HANOI DEPARTURE
Have breakfast at hotel. Our driver and guide meet you at hotel and transfer to Noi Bai Airport for departure flight. End trips.
Meal: Breakfast
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