Vietnam Discovery Tour

We begin a full-day city tour visiting the Ho Chi Minh complex, including the One Pillar Pagoda, the former leader’s house on stilts and his Mausoleum. Continue on, transfer to West Lake to visit Tran Quoc Pagoda, known as the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De. We keep walking to Quan Thanh Temple, known as one of the four Sacred Temples of the capital.

Keep going to the peaceful Temple of Literature - the first university of Vietnam.

Lunch will be served a Vietnamese food Pho, the best traditional in Vietnam especially in Hanoi.

In the afternoon, we head to the Ethnologic museum, which focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam. This museum is widely considered to be the finest modern museum in Vietnam and a renowned tourist attraction in Hanoi. Back to the city centre, we visit Dong Xuan market and The Old quarter

In the evening, seating on the back of a scooter, you’ll ride along the Long Bien Bridge, West Lake, Hoang Dieu street for sightseeing and taking pictures. Continue riding around the old quarter of Hanoi with a stopover at the Opera house, the Metropole Legend Hotel and the Hanoi Cathedral.

Enjoy a cup of Egg coffee at Pho Co Café, then free time to explore Hanoi by night.

Overnight in Hanoi

7:00 AM: Driver will pick you up at your hotel and start our journey towards Sapa, by sharing limousines bus, following the Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway. Along the way, you will have chance to admire the beauty of northwest mountains with terraced fields. Have a short break for 30 minutes on your way.

12:30: Arrive at Sapa, enjoy lunch at local restaurant, check in hotel and meet your guide for visit the hill tribe villages Lao Chai & Ta Van, places which are home to the Black H'mong, and Dzay people. This is an absolutely spectacular walk through stunning scenery inhabited by some of the friendliest people of Vietnam. Once in the valley, you can appreciate the wonderful scenery that surrounds you. The walls of the valley are covered with multi-layered rice terraced fields and scattered villages.

Overnight in Sapa.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Meet your guide and driver for a leisure and quiet trip. The drive uphill offers a most spectacular scenery of Fansipan Mount. Just one kilometer out of the town, you see rose flower farms and chayote growing on bamboo frames. This coveres a vast area. We’ll stop at the magnificent Silver Waterfall before continuing the road trip some kilometers further to the Heaven’s Gate and Tram Ton Pass. At 2047m above sea level, the Heaven’s Gate & Tram Ton Pass is the highest mountain pass in Vietnam. From here, you’ll enjoy walking around for half an hour to catch the beautiful scenery of both two sides of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The wind blows stronger to force the clouds moving constantly. This is the best point to enjoy breathtaking scenery of the two sides of Fansipan Mountain Range. Amazingly that the weather is very different by the side:  most of the days it is foggy and cloudy on the Sa Pa side but brightly sunny on the other side.

Leaving the Heaven’s Gate, we go back downhill for about 7 km, then stop to visit some lush farms in O Quy Ho where different kind of vegetable, flower, fruit trees and even medicinal plants have been grown for years. This makes this part of Sapa everlasting green.

Continue on, you will take a cable car to Fanxipan Mountain. The highest point of Fanxipan is at 3,143m high. Maybe you know that the cable in Sapa is the world’s longest and highest cable car, running up from sleepy Sapa town to the peak of Fanxipan Mountain, known as Indochina’s rooftop. Enjoy the view from the highest point of this incredible mountain. The lush green and subtropical vegetation makes this mountain exceptionally beautiful. Take some pictures and have unforgettable experiences from the top. After having absorbed the majestic scenery, we get the cable car back to Sapa.

In the evening we transfer to Lao Cai railway station. Enjoy a dinner nearby the railway station while waiting for your night train to Hanoi.

Overnight on the train.

Arrive at Hanoi in the early morning, welcome by our Hanoi guide and enjoy Pho Hanoi for breakfast, a Vietnamese noodle shop. At the restaurant, your tour guide will explain the routine during Vietnamese meals, and also tell you which special ingredients are needed.

Pick up at the hotel and transfer to Van Long Nature Reserve in Ninh Binh.  Have a boat trip as local sampan around natural mountains, admire the wonderful landscapes of this mighty area.

Additionally, what makes this tour the most exciting is the boat trip through winding stream, visiting Tam Coc (three grottoes). Tam Coc is regarded as “inland Halong bay”.

Continue on, visit Mua Cave, the most beautiful place in Ninh Binh, where you can see the city far from the front of Tam Coc and the limestone mountains in the south of Vietnam. If time permits, we also visit Bich Dong pagoda.

Overnight in Ninh Binh.

08:00: Drive to Ha Long bay, listed as a World Heritage Area of outstanding natural beauty. “Dragon descending to the sea“as it is known in Vietnamese, the picturesque Ha Long bay has more than 1.000 limestone islets rising from the sea, many of them containing beautiful grottoes.

Upon arrival at Ha Long Bay, we embark on a boat trip to cruise and discover this magnificent UNESCO World Wonder. This is a great journey among surreal islands rising from a quiet emerald sea.

In the late afternoon, we anchor for the night on the bay and enjoy a delicious seafood dinner on board.

Overnight on a junk boat in Halong Bay.

Early morning coffee and tea will be served on the sundeck, followed by a Tai Chi class. After breakfast we take a Sampan boat to explore Luon Cave. We may have a chance to see the wild monkeys that gather around waiting for food from the tourists. After that we continue to cruise around the bay. Lunch is served on the boat on our way back to the docks. Then we transfer to Hai Phong airport for a short flight to Da Nang.

Upon arrival at Da Nang international airport, meet our driver and transfer to Hoi An.

Remark: The itinerary of Ha Long bay will be changed according to the cruise’s itineraries.

This morning we take a walking tour in the old town of Hoi An. Hoi An is nestled on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Before the river silted up, Hoi An was one of the most important trading ports in Southeast Asia, and a center for East-West exchange and trade. From the 2nd until the 10th century, Hoi An was one of the principal Cham cities. Over the years, Indian, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Thai, Indonesian, Spanish, American, Japanese, Filipino and Chinese ships docked in Hoi An. In the 19th century, as the result of warfare and environmental changes, Hoi An was replaced by Da Nang as a major port. Reflecting the diversity of the traders and missionaries that settled in the port (including Alexander of Rhodes), the ancient architecture is a fascinating mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese influences. The rooftops of Hoi An retain a magical old world Oriental feeling and are a favorite subject for Vietnamese artists. In the early 1980s, Hoi An’s ancient quarters and historical monuments came under the protection and restoration efforts of UNESCO and the Polish government. We visit the Japanese covered bridge, the Phuc Kien assemble hall, Phung Hung old house, Hoi An museum and Quan Cong temple and try one of the most famous food in Hoi An “Hoi An bread or Banh Mi Phuong” – which is considered as "the world's most delicious bread", it is a street food that most visitors want to enjoy when traveling to Vietnam.

The rest of time is free to walk in the old town, feel the atmosphere of its original culture, enjoy shopping for tailor clothing, lanterns, shoes or food.

Overnight in Hoi An.

After breakfast, we drive to Hue.

Visit the Hue Royal Complex, former home to the Nguyen Dynasty, the last Monarchy of Vietnam from 1802 – 1945. You will explore the ancient and atmospheric walled Citadel which contains the former Imperial Palace and the Forbidden Purple City.

After noon, you will visit the final resting place:  the so called King tomb of Tu Duc and then cruise on the Perfume River to see the Old Thien Mu Pagoda. On the way back to the city, you will visit a local workshop where you can see how incense sticks and traditional conical hats are made.

Royal Dinner at an ancient Hue restaurant

Overnight in Hue.

Breakfast at the hotel

Free time until we transfer to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh city (the formerly Sai Gon).

Today, we visit the War Remnants Museum. Historically, the war museum is part of the Vietnam and World Peace museums system. Originated on Sep 4 1975 at 28 Vo Van Tan street, district 3, HCMC. Since its 30-year inception, the museum has attracted over 10 million domestic and foreign tourists, especially student delegations from provinces and cities nationwide. It helps reappear the then-wars, helping students well to realize the values of patriotism, struggle for peace and national liberation from forefathers. This museum includes 8 specific exhibitions and various collections of the truth of history (conspiracy and process from hostile forces for the war in Vietnam); crime evidences and war consequences; kinds of weapons and tools serving for the wars; prison (prison house system, concentration camp, torture, maltreatment, bodily mutilation and spiritual oppression against political prisoners).

Later on, we visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old Post Office. The post office, built between 1877 and 1883, is an excellent example of classic French colonial architecture. (architect Gustave Eiffel – same architect as the world famous Eiffel Tower in Paris). In deference to the Chinese heritage, you will also visit Thien Hau Pagoda, built in 1863 by the ethnic Chinese of Saigon and dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea, and the Cho Lon market.

If time permits, today we will also visit The Saigon's docklands (no boat trip along the river) and around the city.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

Meet our guide and driver then transfer to Ben Tre, a small town, hidden within the Mekong Delta, has recently stepped out to be a destination in its own right. This peaceful retreat offers many charming surprises besides the lush vegetation, snaking canals, and enchanting smiles.

A day to Ben Tre is a day that you are no longer a tourist but a true resident embarking on a sensitive voyage of discovery. Enjoy observing how bricks and grass mats are made with age-old traditional techniques, as well as how products are extracted from coconuts. Admire stunning panoramic countryside pictures made of green coconut palms, yellow river streams and colorful local products. Feel the warmth of the tropical breeze and the coolness of water currents while exploring the earthy trails. Taste and smell local exotic fruits, “garden-made” cuisine or stop to observe and satisfy your palate with just-made wet rice paper or coco candies married with green tea.

Continue your experience listening to the sounds of boat, and certainly the banter and laughter of local people, modest yet very hospitable. We enjoy traditional music songs and return to Ho Chi Minh.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

We drive to the airport for flight to Phu Quoc island.

The rest of the time is free. No services will be provided on the island, except the hotels and airport transfer have been booked in advance.

Overnight on the island.

After breakfast at the hotel then free time at your leisure.

During your free time, you can go snorkeling or relaxing on the beach.

Or you can rend a motorbike to explore the island by yourself.

Overnight in Phu Quoc.

Free time at your leisure until we transfer to the airport for your flight back to Sai Gon, connecting your departure flight.

End of the trip!