Deep insight Vietnam 18 days

On your arrival, our tour guide will send you the warmest welcome to Hanoi and then transfer you directly to the hotel.

Check-in at the hotel is due at 2 pm. You can pay an additional charge for an earlier check-in.

Optional: You can have the rest of the day to sleep and recover from the flight. If not, you can wander around for some own exploration, or consider taking part in one of our suggested activities below:

• Water Puppet Show: A traditional Vietnamese water-performing art
• Vietnamese Cooking Class or Foodies Tours: Hanoi and Vietnamese food are totally tasty and mesmerizing.

Please contact our travel consultant if you are interested in these services, and we are available 24/7 for assisting you.

Note: Please be advised that both international and domestic terminals might be crowded sometimes during the day, so in case you cannot find our representatives, please be present at Pole No.10 (Outside the Terminal Gate) and contact us, so we could easily search for you.

Begin the first day of the trip with a tour of Hanoi.

Morning or afternoon departure depends on availability.

Half-day Hanoi city tour (by car or by motorbike) - Routes can change subject to the client’s interest.

Depart from the hotel for a visit to Vietnam’s first university: the Temple of Literature, founded in 1076 and established to educate Vietnam's royalty, mandarins, and members of the elite.

Continue to visit One Pillar Pagoda, one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples. Nearby is the Mausoleum of the historic father figure of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and his modest house on stilts. (Sites are viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from Jun - Aug).

Visit the picturesque West Lake and its sixth-century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. Tran Quoc Pagoda is regarded as the most ancient pagoda in Hanoi with its history line of more than 1,500 years.

After visiting, you will have a meal at an authentic Vietnamese Restaurant. Free time at leisure for rest of the day.

In the morning, get picked up at your hotel and head to Mai Chau by van with a short break along the way.

Arrive mid-day and enjoy a welcome drink, then have a traditional lunch in the village (vegetarian available).

In the afternoon, cycle with your tour guide to see farmers working in fields, locals weaving scarves, and to visit surrounding peaceful villages. Then you will have free time for shopping.

After breakfast, visit remote villages Na Meo and Na Mo villages with your local tour guides to understand their culture and customs.

Mid-day, back to the homestay for lunch and check-out.

Free time for shopping and relaxing.

15.00 – 15.30: Say goodbye to the family to get on the bus to drive back to Hanoi. The journey will last for 3.5 - 4 hours. 

After breakfast at the hotel, pick up and transfer to Halong Bay, the World Heritage, famous for outstanding natural beauty

Upon arrival, welcome by the boat crew, check-in, and enjoy the cruise trip around Halong Bay, behold thousands of limestone islands and grottoes rising from the clear, emerald water. For lunch, have a delicious seafood meal.

After the break, depending on each cruise’s itinerary of the day, join some activities onboard to discover the beauty of the bay such as visiting a cave, kayaking, or enjoying swimming in the sea before getting back to the cruise for relaxing and dining.

Overnight on board.

Start your 2nd day in Halong with an early Tai-chi class, or simply wake up and enjoy the amazing sunrise on the bay. 

After breakfast, the cruise will take you to explore the most stunning caves in Halong, which is followed by a lunch served on the way back to the main dock for transferring to Hanoi.

After getting back to Hanoi, have free time to visit Hanoi Old Quarter and try Vietnamese street food by yourself.

Meet at a hotel in Hanoi at around 19.00 and transfer to Hanoi train station. 

Enjoy an overnight train journey to Dong Hoi in shared sleeping compartments (sharing with other passengers in 2 lower & 2 upper berths per compartment). The train departs at approximately 21h35.

Notes:

• Our tour guide will not accompany you during the train trip
• Train schedule is subject to change.
• Private compartments on request at a surcharge.
• Train journeys are part of a great local experience. Cabins are shared with other local passengers (unless a private cabin is requested and all berths paid for - with supplement). Restrooms at either end of the carriages complete the local experience.

Arrive at Dong Hoi Train Station in the early morning.

Pickup at the train station and head to Phong Nha to explore impressive caves in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park

After enjoying breakfast at a local restaurant, the tour guide will bring you deep into the Vietnamese jungle where the lost world of ancient rock configurations can be found dripping from the ceilings. This is truly a unique chance to enjoy the real wilderness of Vietnam.

After 25 minutes on board through the jungle, visitors will arrive at Phong Nha Cave. Take a couple of hours to see the cave. This cave, called a water cave, is famous for its rock formation which has been given names such as the “Lion”, the “Fairy Caves”, the “Royal Court”, and the “Buddha”.

Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, visit Paradise cave – the cave was labeled as one of the most beautiful caves in the world and is the longest dry cave in Asia. With naturally primitive features, Paradise Cave looks like a landscape painting, making it very attractive to visitors.

After exploring Paradise Cave, drive to a hotel in town.

Our tour guide and driver will meet you at your hotel in Dong Hoi, then drive you to Vinh Moc Tunnel approximately 2.5 hours away.

Your guide will recommend stops along the way to see a small church showing the signs of mortar attack in the area and visit former US Bases. You will go through the DMZ, where some of the bloodiest battles were fought during the Vietnam/American War. Walk across the Ben Hai River on Hien Luong Bridge that used to demarcate the division between North and South Vietnam (1954-1975), You will visit the museums of photographs and memorials of the war before taking a fascinating tour of the Vinh Moc Tunnels.

Your guide will take you into the tunnels and explore the complex. Walk past huge bomb craters, amazing fighting trench, and even venture into the tunnels and explore the tiny living rooms, food and weapon storage, and school that villagers would have survived on.

End trip and transfer to Hue

The tranquil city of Hue, founded in the 17th century as a royal city and the capital (before Hanoi replaced it), now has become one of the top destinations in Central Vietnam.

Here, start with a visit to Thien Mu Pagoda, a famous Buddhism attraction lying on the bank of the enchanting Perfume River. The pagoda is fascinating for not only the ancient design of the buildings but also the good location at which you could enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the Perfume River.

Leaving the pagoda, continue to visit the Imperial Citadel. As the “house” of the Nguyen Royal Family, the last dynasty in Vietnam, the citadel reflects the luxurious and prosperous lives of the royal family and allows visitors to explore a part of Vietnam's pre-modern history. Even though some buildings were damaged or destroyed during some wars, crucial constructions remain and are currently being conserved in good condition. You will spend most of the time around the citadel, visiting the front gate, the Flag Tower, The King’s Palace, and the Museums of Royal Antiquities.

The sightseeing time is then followed by experiencing and interactive activities. The next and last stop will be Dong Ba Market, the largest traditional trading place in not only Hue City, but also the adjacent provinces. Walking through kiosks, you will have a chance to understand the daily business of local sellers, their way of doing business, as well as purchase some interesting souvenirs before we drive you back to your hotel.

Pick up at hotel in Hue, then transfer to hotel in Hoi An via Cloudy Pass by shuttle bus or private car with stop at some spots on the way for sightseeing and photoshoot (admission fee is not included).

Get picked up at your hotel in Hoi An and driven to My Son Sanctuary, a collection of Champa ruins nestled amongst mountains in a geological basin of the Quang Nam province (45km to the West of Hoi An town).

Declared as the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, My Son is the cultural highlight of central Vietnam and well worth the hour's drive from town.

Follow the tour guide to explore groups of temples, you will learn more about the history of the Champa Kingdom. On the way back, stop by Sa Huynh Champa Culture Museum in Tra Kieu to visit.

Around noon, return to your hotel.

End of the My Son tour.

During your 12th day in Vietnam, In Hoi An, you will have some free time to explore the town on your own.  

Optional: On the day, there are some recommended ways to explore the beauty of Hoi An, from which you can choose one: 

Option 1: Life as a Farmer in Cam Thanh village: Join the farmers in preparing and fertilizing the land. Get to know the villagers’ daily working routines, like raking the ground, sowing, watering, and picking greens, and many more gardening activities.

Price from $ US70/ person

Option 2: Hoi An Vespa Tour

Price from $ US85/ person

Transfer to the Da Nang airport to take a flight to Hanoi. Upon arrival, our driver will wait and transfer you to the hotel in the center of the city.

Check-in hotel and have some freetime to relax.

Our guide will show you the most interesting sights that Ho Chi Minh City has to offer.

Depart from your hotel to the Reunification Palace. This beautifully preserved palace was the residence of the President of the Republic of Vietnam. On April 30th, 1975 the American War officially came to an end here.

Afterward, have a short visit to Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, which was built in 1880, and the Old Post Office, which was built sometime between 1886 and 1891. Both are symbols of classical French colonial architecture.

The last stop would be a local Market where you can practice your bargaining skills while shopping for souvenirs. Discover local life and culture. You’ll find some of the friendliest, liveliest, most convivial people in the city here.

Return to your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, you will have free time for the rest of the day

Escape from the bustling Saigon in the Mekong Delta tour, you'll see what life is like beyond the urban center of the south.

The Mekong Delta, incredibly fertilized, features food production as the prime industry, producing approximately half of Vietnam's total agricultural output.

Local life of villages in the area revolves around the rivers and canals that make up the delta, so much so that people are more likely to transport by river than road. Enjoy the fresh air and immerse yourself in the tranquility of the countryside, still untouched by tourism.

Board and experience the diversity of the Mekong waterways first hand as you explore fish farms and exotic fruit farms. Touring the orchards, paddy fields, and swamplands of the Mekong Delta, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve stepped into the pages of a geography textbook.

You will be then transferred to Can Tho for staying overnight

After breakfast at the hotel, take a motorboat to visit Cai Rang – the most fascinating floating market where we can see all trading activities on the Mekong river.

Try “hu tieu”- traditional rice noodles of Mekong delta people or try a small piece of durian which is the most addictive fruit to local people? A short stop to visit the rice husking mill and walk around the village. See the beautiful scenery and daily activities of the locals.

Disembark at Ninh Kieu and transfer back to HCMC after lunch in Can Tho.

Formerly known as Saigon, today Ho Chi Minh City is the bustling and vibrating economic center of the South. Over the past few centuries, Saigon was called the “Pearl of the Far East” and was an important trading center for Chinese, Japanese, and Western merchants who traveled along the Saigon River.

Upon your arrival back to the city, you will have free time to explore its beauty of it.

Optional: We introduce some ways to explore the beauty of Ho Chi Minh City. You can choose one of the below options:

You can choose one of the below options:

Option 1: Dinner Cruise on Saigon River: Spend romantic evening time to enjoy a special dinner on the boat while the cruise setting sail on the Saigon River.

Option 2: Cu Chi Tunnels & Cooking Class Full day: Visit Cu Chi Tunnels - have a unique experience about underground life during wartime. Visit Ho Chi Minh Agricultural Villages, work in the garden like a real farmer, pick organic ingredients from the garden for your cooking class. 

Price from $ US74/ person

After breakfast, free until transferring to the airport for boarding home sweet home or next destination.

End of your 18-day Vietnam tour.