13-Day Vietnam Itinerary: Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Hue & Mekong Delta

HANOI ARRIVAL – FOOD TOUR ( MEALS: D) Upon arrival at Noi Bai airport, our guide and driver will meet you at the airport and transfer to your hotel in city center. In the afternoon, you’ll join food tour and discover every corners of the Hanoi Old Quarter. You’ll enjoy amazing local food including: Banh Cuon: Vietnamese steamed rice rolls Bun Cha: rice noodles with barbecue pork. Hoa Qua Dam: fruit beams - one of the most popular cooling dishes for young people on hot summer days. In the sweltering weather, enjoying a cup of sweet, refreshing, and cool beams of fruit is a wonderful thing that everyone loves. Egg – coffee: a Vietnamese drink traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and robusta coffee Finnally, we are heading to Ta Hien street. It’s known as “ beer corner of the Hanoi Old Quarter”. Our guide’ll take you back your hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

• Airport pickup & hotel transfer
• Evening food tour in Old Quarter
• Taste Banh Cuon, Bun Cha, egg coffee & local desserts
• Explore Ta Hien “Beer Street”

HANOI CITY TOUR ( MEALS: B,L) After breakfast, our tour guide will meet you in the hotel lobby. We will visit Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh Complex that completed in 1975. We visit outside Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The complex includes the Presidential Palace, House-on-Stilts, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and One Pillar pagoda. After that we will visit the Temple of Literature that was originally built as a temple to Confucius, this is the site of Vietnam’s first University dating back to 1070. The temple highlights the importance of Vietnamese society for education. Have lunch at a nice restaurant in city center. After lunch, we continue our trip to visit Ngoc Son Temple and Hoan Kiem Lake: The Ngoc Son temple is set on a tiny island on the Hoan KiemLake, its history dating back to the 13th century. The temple is reached by crossing the The Huc Bridge which literally means the ‘Place Touched by Morning Sunbeams’. The Hoan Kiem Lake is the local point of the city and the source of many legends. After that, we take 45 minutes Cyclo Tour through the Old Quarter: Also known as the 36 streets, this bustling area of narrow streets is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. Originally, each of the 36 s names’ was related to the products being sold there. It’s a great place to explore on foot with numerous photo opportunities. Before back to your hotel, we will enjoy the water puppet show at Thang Long theatre - a tradictional performance of Vietnamese. Overnight in Hanoi.

• Visit Ho Chi Minh Complex & One Pillar Pagoda
• Explore Temple of Literature
• Visit Ngoc Son Temple & Hoan Kiem Lake
• Cyclo ride through Old Quarter
• Enjoy traditional water puppet show

HANOI – HA LONG BAY ( MEALS: B,L,D) After your breakfast, we leave Hanoi for Halong Bay in 3 hours drive. Ha Long Bay is known as the most famous World Heritage Site in Vietnam for its beautiful seascape, thousands of spectacular islands and islets jutting out from the sea, amazing caves with marvelous stalagmites and stalactites in different sizes and shapes. Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed on board. Lunch will be served while the boat is sailing to Halong Bay. In the afternoon, we’ll join some activities: sightseeing, kayaking, swimming, visit cave...(depending on each cruise’s itinerary). Stay overnight on the cruise.

• Drive to Ha Long Bay
• Board cruise & enjoy lunch onboard
• Kayaking, cave visits & sightseeing
• Overnight stay on cruise

HA LONG BAY – HANOI – DA NANG ( B,L) Enjoy the morning view of the beautiful landscape with a cup of coffee or tea then have breakfast. After breakfast, the cruise will bring you on a trip to explore deeper inside the bay. The brunch will be served on the way sailing back to the port and our driver will pick you up and transfer to Noi Bai International Airport for Da Nang. Upon your arrival, our driver picks you up and transfer to Hoi An ancient town. Overnight in Hoi An.

• Morning cruise & brunch
• Transfer to airport & fly to Da Nang
• Transfer to Hoi An & overnight stay

HOI AN ANCIENT CITY TOUR ( MEALS: B,L) After breakfast, our driver & tour-guide pick you up and discover Hoi An Ancient City. Today, we’ll visit Hoi An ancient town with merchants' homes, the 400 year-old Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Pagoda and the colourful riverside market. Lunch is served at local restaurant. In the afternoon, we are heading to visit My Son Holy Land, once the spiritual capital of Champa Kingdom that dominated South East Asia for nearly a thousand years and occupied most of the central parts of Vietnam from 2nd century to 16th century with very rich in history and culture. Contemplate its remarkable red brick towers and sanctuaries dating from between the 7th and 13th centuries. Back to hotel in Hoi An. Overnight in Hoi An.

• Explore Hoi An Ancient Town
• Visit Japanese Covered Bridge & local markets
• Excursion to My Son Sanctuary
• Return to Hoi An

HOI AN – HUE ( MEALS: B,L) After breakfast, our driver & tour-guide picks you up for Hue - the last imperial capital of Vietnam, well-known for magnificent architecture, pagodas and royal tombs laid in small villages and surrounding hills and one of the most popular cities for all the Vietnam Tours. En route have a look at the famous Danang Beach and visit Cham Museum which contains the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world. Upon your arrival in Hue, check in hotel & overnight in Hue.

• Drive to Hue via Da Nang
• Visit Cham Museum
• Enjoy scenic coastal views
• Check-in & overnight in Hue

HUE CITY TOUR & CYCLO ( MEALS: B,L) This morning, you will have an amazing cyclo ride through the most beautiful sites in Hue. Cyclo is definitely an authentic way to discover this peaceful and ancient city. Not only foreign tourists but also locals would love to spend time sitting on the cyclo to feel the pace of life while passing streets, shops, houses, old citadel, river, bridge and you can feel like you are really a part of it. First, you will pass Trang Tien Bridge crossing Perfume River. Then, ride to Dong Ba market – a busy & colorful market located right in the center of Hue city. Next, visit the old capital city (Imperial Citadel) of Vietnam ruled by the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945 so you can better understand the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture. In the afternoon, continue the trip by car to King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty. King Minh Mang Tomb lies on the west bank of Perfume River, is the most majestic of all Nguyen Dynasty royal tombs thanks to its perfect combination of manmade and natural beauty of Hue, where architecture fits harmoniously into the surrounding landscape. King Khai Dinh Tomb is actually the smallest tomb of all King's Tombs in Hue, however, it is also the most costly one. The tomb was started building in 1920 and it takes 11 years to be completed. The truth is that the rulers had to raise national tax to 30% in order to complete the tomb. The prominent features of Khai Dinh tomb is about the intermingling of oriental and occidental, roman and gothic, ancient and modern. After that, have short stop at Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. It is located on the banks of poetic Perfume River with typical traditional architecture of Hue pagodas and famous for the event that buddhist monk from this temple, Thich Quang Duc, burn himself to death for anti-government protest in 1963. Finally, take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River back to the city center. Overnight in Hue.

• Cyclo ride through the city
• Visit Imperial Citadel & Dong Ba Market
• Explore royal tombs (Minh Mang & Khai Dinh)
• Visit Thien Mu Pagoda
• Dragon boat ride on Perfume River

HUE – VINH MOC TUNNELS – DONG HOI (B,L) We will pick you up from your hotel in Hue city to drive to Quang Tri where is the DMZ located. We will get chance to visit the war relics; we stop at the frame of church; continue driving to Cua Tung beach and Vinh Moc tunnels where there are many long tunnels used as the house of the people here during the war. You will go under the tunnels to see how they are. Then, drive back to visit Hien Luong bridge and Ben Hai River where can be considered as the DMZ during the war in Vietnam before having lunch. We will then follow the Ho Chi Minh trail to Phong Nha cave. This is the real trail with its mind blowing-lost of jungle. Overnight in Dong Hoi.

• Drive through DMZ region
• Visit war relics & tunnels
• Stop at Hien Luong Bridge & Ben Hai River
• Continue to Dong Hoi

PARADISE CAVE & PHONG NHA CAVES (B,L) 08:00 After breakfast, our car and tour guide will pick you up and transfer to visit Paradise Cave. 09:40 Arrive Paradise Cave, golf car will take you to the cave entrance (located in the park's core zone). Paradise Cave discovered by scientists of the British Caving Research Association in 2005, has the length of 31km, the longest dry cave in Asia. With naturally primitive features Paradise Cave looks like a landscape painting, making it very attractive to visitors. According to spelunkers, the deeper one journeys into the cave, the more one feels the wells of heavenly clarity all around. There are a series of white crystal stalactites resembling glass pillars and many other spectacular formations. 12:00 Go back to Phong Nha village for having lunch 13:30 On boat to to go to Phong Nha Cave which is not only a natural legacy of the world or a wonder of the country Vietnam, but also a relic system of the historic street Ho Chi Minh which collaborates with Xuan Son Ferry in order to create a route supporting for the battleground of the South Vietnam during US War. Today, this place has become the first section of Ho Chi Minh trails. Therefore, coming to Phong Nha means you are visiting this legendary trails. 17:00 Go back to Dong Hoi City for overnight.

• Visit Paradise Cave
• Boat trip to Phong Nha Cave
• Explore stunning limestone formations
• Return to Dong Hoi

QUANG BINH – HO CHI MINH CITY ( MEALS:B) You enjoy breakfast at hotel. Today, you are free at your leisure. Our driver’ll pick you up and transfer to the airport for Ho Chi Minh city. Upon your arrival, our driver transfer you to the hotel in Ho Chi Minh city. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

• Leisure time in the morning
• Flight to Ho Chi Minh City
• Hotel check-in & overnight stay

: HO CHI MINH CITY TOUR ( MEALS: B,L) After breakfast, our guide and car will meet you at your hotel in HCM city center and start the tour to explore HCM city. The first place to visit in the tour will be the Reunification Palace, which was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam until end of the war in April 1975 . After Reunification Palace, you can walk to see some French colonial structures including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Central Post Office. Continue on to Chinatown, Thien Hau pagodas, which is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. Explore the highlights of this fascinating area, beginning with intricate friezes, carved tableau and impressive incense coils make for some great photos. Then observe street life through the narrow streets to Binh Tay market that sells everything from clothes to dried squid. In the afternoon: Have Lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to visit War Remnants Museum where there is a vast display of the both the Indochina wars. In courtyard massive military vehicles are for exhibition as well as tiger cages for the visitor to get a feel on how it was to be a prisoner during wartime. In the museum building itself, each floor will represent a separate theme from the war and the war crimes committed towards the Vietnamese people. We end the city tour with Ben Thanh market where anything and everything is for sale. We drive back to hotel. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

• Visit Reunification Palace
• Explore Notre Dame Cathedral & Central Post Office
• Visit War Remnants Museum
• Shopping at Ben Thanh Market

HO CHI MINH CITY – MEKONG DELTA ( MEALS: B,L) Around 08:00, our tour guide picks you up at your hotel lobby, then driving to the mighty Mekong Delta where boats, houses and market float upon the uncountable rivers and canals. We get on the boat, it will cruise along the river (a branch of the Mekong) and stop off at various local workplaces including a brick works, a coconut processing workshop and a mat weaving house. The boat will then stop at a quiet village where you can have a short walk to experience real Delta village life and take a bicycle ride through dense coconut plantations. 12:00 Have lunch at a local restaurant right at the rural area.

• Drive to Mekong Delta
• Boat cruise through canals
• Visit local workshops & villages
• Cycling through coconut plantations
• Transfer to Can Tho

CAI RANG FLOATING MARKET – HO CHI MINH CITY – TAN SON NHAT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ( MEALS: B) In the early morning, we take a river boat to visit the Cai Rang floating market - highlights of Mekong Delta where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals, you will roam through the village to visit a rice husking mill, a rice noodles making shop which are nice chances to discover the daily life of Vietnamese people in Mekong Delta. NOTE: Cai Rang floating is busier and less tourisic in the early morning. You are advised to wake up at 06:00 and be ready for boat trip at around 06:30. The breakfast will be served during your boat trip at a local home. After that, you are free at your leisure. In the afternoon, our driver & guide transfer you to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

• Early morning visit to Cai Rang Floating Market
• Experience local river life & breakfast on boat
• Village visits & free time
• Transfer to Ho Chi Minh City for departure