Hanoi, Halong Bay,Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Mytho, Mekong Delta

After breakfast this morning, we start our tour of Hanoi with a visit to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the national leader whose memory is honored here. We will also visit The House on stilts; see the distinctive One Pillar pagoda. Moving out of this, we will visit the Temple of Literature, where Vietnam’s first university was established here in 1076.

After lunch at local restaurant, we set off for Ha Long Bay of Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We arrive in the early afternoon and transfer to hotel for check. We tonight have dinner at Vietnamese restaurant with traditional music. Stay overnight in Halong Bay

Rising early you may have a chance to see the sunrise in Halong Bay. After breakfast, transfer to pier for embarkation the private boat to discover spectacular Halong Bay, listed as a World Heritage of outstanding natural beauty. With its clear, emerald waters and mountains drapped in velvety cloaks of vegetation, “The bay of the descending dragon” is dotted with more than 3,000 mountain islands rising from the clear emerald waters of the Gulf Tonkin, many of them containing beautiful grottoes. A 4-hours boat cruise will lead you to visit Thien Cung cave and Dau Go grotto, stone Dog, Fighting Cocks.... Fresh seafood lunch will be served on board.

After the boat cruise, we return to Hanoi for refreshment.

Dinner tonight is on your own. 

After a buffet breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the Noi Bai airport for our short flight to Hue, the royal city of Vietnam’s last ruling dynasty located on the central coast of Vietnam, north of Danang.

Upon arrival in Hue, pick up and transfer to check in to hotel. If the time permits, we will tour the Citadel, find the Imperial Enclosure, and see its inner Forbidden Purple City, a private area reserved for the emperor. After lunch at local restaurant, visit tomb of Tu Duc who had the longest reign of any Nguyen monarch, lived a life of ultimate imperial luxury. Then visit the tomb of Khai Dinh built from September 1920 and lasted for 11 years. It is the result of the interminglement of many architectural trends: European and Asian, as well as ancient and modern.

Rest of the day is time for shopping. We tonight have dinner at local restaurant . 

After breakfast at our hotel, we take a boat trip to visit Thien Mu pagoda, Hue’s most reserved religious monument built on a hillock overlooking the Perfume River and the tomb of Minh Mang who ruled from 1820 to 1840. After lunch at local restaurant, drive to the ancient town of Hoi An, an ancient, well-preserved port town that’s changed in the past two centuries. After check into hotel, we take a walking tour of the ancient quarter and see its historic streets and mossy houses such as Phuc Kien Congressional House and Japanese Bridge, historic houses with brick exteriors and wooden interiors...

We enjoy tonight dinner at our hotel.

This morning you are free to explore the town of Hoi An on your own. After lunch at local restaurant, we head to Danang airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, pick up and transfer to hotel for check in and refreshment. This evening we dine together at a local restaurant.

After breakfast this morning, drive out to Cu Chi Tunnels, 70 km from Saigon to spend some time examining this 250 km long underground maze where thousands of fighters and villagers hid and fought during Vietnam war. The networks, parts of which was several stove deep, included innumerable trap doors, constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories... After that, we return to Ho Chi Minh City in time for lunch at local restaurant. After lunch, our city tour will be started with visits to Independent Palace, The Catholic Cathedral of Notre Dame. We also see the architecture of Central Post Office, City Hall, Opera House. Go shopping at Ben Thanh market. Rest of the afternoon and evening are yours to discover Ho Chi Minh City at leisure. Dinner tonight is on your own.

We have breakfast at our hotel and then depart for My Tho in the Mekong Delta, one of Vietnam’s scenic treasures. Upon arriving in My Tho, we board a boat for a cruise on the upper part of the Mekong River visiting the floating fish market. Then we’ll board a sampan to cruise a narrow canal that will take us to a small orchard and apiary where we can sample some of tropical fruit and honey-flavored sweets, coconut candy factory. In the afternoon, travel back to Ho Chi Minh City for your own dinner.