Hanoi – Sapa – Ha Long Bay - Hue – Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh City – Mekong Detla

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Enter Vietnam at Noi Bai airport, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one hour cyclo ride around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show and a welcome dinner at a restaurant with Vietnamese cuisines. You will spend your first night of your Vietnam Culture and Nature tour in Hanoi.

Day 2: Hanoi City Tour – Overnight train to Sapa (B/L)
You will have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you will call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi and the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. In the evening, you’ll take an overnight train to Sapa.

Day 3: Lao Cai – Sapa – Cat Cat – Ta Phin Village (B)
Arrive at Lao Cai Train station at about 6.30, you will be met by your guide and driven to Sapa. After breakfast and relaxing, you will explore Sapa town and talk to ethnic minority people there. Small girls there are all good at English. You will understand more about their daily life and culture. In the afternoon, take a 2km trek to Cat Cat Village, home of H’mong Ethnics. Then you will head to Ta Phin village (12km from Sapa) home to the Red Dzao minority. Visit Ta Phin Cave, Ta Phin handicraft shops and see the daily life of Red Dzao people. Drive back to Sapa for overnight.

Day 4: Sapa – Lao Chai – Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai - Overnight on the train (B/L)
After breakfast, you will follow your guide to walk around the town, visit the town centre market before being driven to the Lao Chai, a village of the Black H’Mong ethnic minority people. Trek around the village and enjoy the Vietnam culture and then along the path to Tan Van of Dzay people. Picnic lunch is served on the way then continue trekking to Giang Ta Chai. Trek to main road and our car will pick you up back to Sapa. In the evening, you’ll return to Lao Cai to board the train to return to Hanoi. You’ll spend overnight on the train.

Day 5: Hanoi – Ha Long (B/L/D)
Arriving in Hanoi at around 5am in the morning, you will be picked up to a mini hotel for breakfast and refreshment. 8:30am - you will leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board your boat, a wooden junk built from the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure, that will take you first to the busy World Heritage area and then to some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you will be able to swim, fish, climb a hill for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape, or venture into some of the sea level caves in a small sampan. All your meals will be provided on board, usually based on fresh seafood. Your overnight will be aboard.

Day 6: Ha Long – Hanoi – Hue (B)
You will spend the morning cruising Ha Long Bay, followed by lunch just before docking around noon and leaving for Hanoi. You will drive straight to the airport for your afternoon flight to Hue. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by your guide and transferred to your hotel for check in. Overnight in Hue.

Day 7: Hue (B/L/D)
After breakfast at the hotel, you’ll depart to visit the Imperial Citadel of Hue and the Royal tomb of king Khai Dinh. After lunch, your afternoon will be started by a cruise along Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda and the Royal Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang. Your overnight will be in Hue.

Day 8: Hue – Hoi An (B/L)
After breakfast, you will drive to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass. The views from the top are excellent – you’ll be able to see Lang Co beach and the lagoon far below, and Danang spread out before you to the south. Upon arriving in Danang, you’ll visit the the remarkable Hindu statuary in the Cham Museum before leaving for Hoi An. You will visit the ancient town including 400 years old Japanese Bridge, 300 years old Chinese temple, 200 years old Vietnamese former merchants’house before being dropped off at your hotel. You will spend the night in Hoi An.

Day 9: Hoi An – My Son Sanctuary – Danang - Ho Chi Minh City (B)
After breakfast, your guide will meet you at your hotel to take you to the World Heritage My Son Sanctuary, 40km southwest of Hoi An. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. When you return, the rest of the day will be free until your guide comes to take you to the airport for a late afternoon flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, you will be picked up by your guide and driven to your hotel for check in. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 10: Ho Chi Minh City (B/L)
After breakfast, your guide will arrive to show you around Ho Chi Minh City. You will visit the History Museum, the Museum of War Remnants, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Centre Post Office and the huge Ben Thanh market, one of the liveliest areas of Ho Chi Minh City. After lunch, you will visit China town, Binh Tay market and Thien Hau Pagoda. You will spend the night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 11: Ho Chi Minh City – My Tho – Ho Chi Minh City (B/L)
8:00am – Depart from your hotel to travel to My Tho. On arrival, you’ll board a boat to cruise on the Mekong River and rowing through small canals and channels to Thoi Son Island where you’ll disembark and walk along a small village road to visit fruit gardens, the elementary school, the local distillery, and witness the daily life of Mekong villagers. You’ll have chance to sample some of area’s tropical fruits and watch a traditional music show. After lunch at a local restaurant on the island, you’ll climb back on the boat to visit a coconut candy workshop. Return to Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon for overnight. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.  

Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City Departure (B)
After breakfast, you will be free until your driver arrives to take you to Tan Son Nhat airport for your departure flight. This will be the end of your Vietnam Culture and Nature tour.

Our prices include:
+ Breakfast and accommodation sharing a twin or double room.
+ Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced safe driver.
+ The services of an experienced local English-speaking guide (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests’ return to their hotel or reaching their destination).
+ Boat cruises as specified in the programme. All Ha Long Bay boats will be fully licensed and comply with current safety regulations.
+ Where necessary, entry fees and permission to enter border areas for all visits mentioned in the programme.
+ Lunches and dinners (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local restaurants, or picnics where no suitable restaurant is available.

+ Returned train tickets: Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi in a shared 4-berth cabin with soft sleeper and air-conditioning on a first class train.

+ VAT and other taxes 

Our prices do not include:
+ International flight tickets and airport tax.
+ Visas
+ Dinners, except as specified above.
+ Drinks, gratuities and personal expenses.
+ Camera fees (if any)
+ Insurance.

  | South Africa Package Tours | Disclaimer | Terms of Booking | Currency Converter |