DAY 01: HA NOI ARRIVAL (D)
Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport. Transfer to hotel for checking in. Free at leisure. Have dinner. Overnight in Ha Noi Capital.
DAY 02: HA NOI – HA LONG (B, L, D)
Breakfast at hotel. Check out for departure to Ha Long Bay – one of the Earth’s most amazing natural wonders. Take a 3,5-hour-bus driving through fertile rice fields to Ha Long. Embark Bai Chay harbor, get transferred to Dragon Cruise by a tender and enjoy a welcome drink. Receive a cruise briefing. Have delicious seafood lunch while cruising among wonderful limestone island. Stop at Ti Top Island one hour for swimming, sun-bathing or getting a panoramic view on island peak. Do kayaking among hidden parts and around Bo Nau cave to discover mysterious beauty of Ha Long. Experience unforgettable memory passing through “tunnel cave” on a bamboo boat to a secluded lake. Take part in a “cooking class” on board making some special dishes with our chef then enjoy it. Drop anchor in calm water area and enjoy some local wine, fruits on the sundeck at sunset.
Have a delectable dinner in cozy restaurant of Dragon Cruise in the middle of Ha Long. Free at leisure. Overnight on Dragon Cruise.
DAY 03: HA LONG – HA NOI – SAPA (B, L, D)
Breakfast on cruise. Take magnificent pictures, enjoy complimentary tea and coffee. Visit Sung Sot cave (Amazing cave), the most beautiful with millions of surprising stalactites and stalagmites. Then check out cabin. Relax on sundeck for sun-bathing, photo hunting while sailing back to the harbor. Leave Dragon Cruise, have a short rest and take a bus drive to a local restaurant for lunch.
Return to Ha Noi. Have dinner. Check out hotel. Travel overnight by train to Sa Pa, sleeping in four-berth soft-sleeper cabin.
DAY 04: SAPA (B, L, D)
Arrive in Lao Cai city in the early morning. Have breakfast. Transfer to Sapa – the fanciful town in the fog. Visit villas and churches built in the period of French colonization, especially the Stone Church. Have lunch.
Move to Ham Rong Moutain, the home to some stunning orchid gardens and "rock gardens". Enjoy the surrounding fresh nature as well as the spectacular views of the beautiful valley towards Fansipan – highest peak in Viet Nam and Indochina Hike to the Cat Cat village to see the local minority communities and admire the natural beauties of the area such as the streams and falls deep inside the valley. Have dinner. Free at leisure for exploring the small town. Overnight in Sapa.
DAY 05: SAPA – HA NOI (B, L, D)
Have breakfast. Visit villages surrounded by terraced rice plantations and linger in the large market area to admire various handicraft articles. Enjoy lunch prepared and served by a local families. Bus back to Lao Cai. Then take a short tour of the city to visit the Sino-Vietnam border and the central market and mall. Have dinner. Return to Hanoi by night train, sleeping again in the soft-sleeper cabins.
DAY 06: HA NOI (B, L, D)
Arrive in Ha Noi Capital in the morning. Have breakfast. Take an excursion around the Capital. Visit the first place named Tran Quoc Pagoda, a Buddhist relic and national heritage lying on the West Lake. Then visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the final resting place of Vietnam’s greatest father, walking along Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house where he lived and worked from 1958 to 1969. Continue the trip to One Pillar Pagoda, the one modeled after a lotus flower, a symbol of Ha Noi Capital. Explore the colorful features of the 54 ethnic groups of Viet Nam in the Ethnology Museum. Have lunch at a local restaurant in Ha Noi Old Quarter. Transfer to hotel for checking in.
Continue the excursion including: Temples of Literature (considered as Vietnam’s first University); legendary Hoan Kiem Lake; Ngoc Son Temple. Have dinner. Later in the evening, enjoy the spectacular traditional Water Puppet Show. Overnight in Ha Noi Capital.
DAY 07: HA NOI – NINH BINH (B, L) – DINNER FREE
Breakfast at hotel. Depart for Ninh Binh Province, famous as the so-called “Dry-Ha Long Bay”. The first destination is Hoa Lu Ancient Citadel, which is once depicted the ancient capital of Viet Nam, settled up in the 10th century. Visit temples of two dynasties of Dinh and Le with a very unique architectures in the old time. Visit the excavation area beside the Le Dai Hanh temple. Explore the vestiges of Royal Palaces ground dated back 10th century. Then proceed to Tam Coc.
CYCLING RIDE (optional): Those who love to explore real countryside images of Vietnam can proceed a 40 minute cycling ride along country lane (from Tam Coc to Bich Dong Pagoda, estimated time 40 minutes for 5km cycling 2 ways), experiencing the beautiful scenery of lush paddy fields. (PAY EXTRA 100.000 VND/ pax). Finish the cycling ride at Tam Coc dock in time for a buffet lunch in restaurant.
Board the sampan boats (2 people share a boat) in Tam Coc dock to drift down the river among the villages, mountains and lush rice fields. Passing through 3 caves"Hang Ca - First cave, Hang Hai -Second cave, Hang Ba - Third cave" to get a strange feeling. Return to the dock. Back to Ha Noi Capital. Free at leisure. Overnight in Ha Noi.
DAY 08: HA NOI – HUE (B, L, D)
Breakfast at hotel. Check out hotel and transfer to Noi Bai Airport. Take a morning flight to Hue – the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Upon arrival, visit the Imperial City, a UNESCO world heritage site also called the Forbidden Purple City and the restricted residence of the emperor and his concubines in the past. Have lunch at a local restaurant.
Visit the Tombs of Emperor Tu Duc on the bank of the Perfume River, as well as the beautiful historic Thien Mu Pagoda, regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former capital. Have dinner. Then enjoy “Nha Nhac Cung Dinh Hue” (Nha Nhac of Hue Court), a form of Vietnamese court music, that was recognized in 2005 by UNESCO as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. Free at leisure. Overnight in Hue.
DAY 09: HUE – DA NANG – HOI AN (B, L) – DINNER FREE
Breakfast at hotel. Depart for Hoi An Ancient Town by bus. Pass through Cloud Mountain and Marble Mountain, enjoying the beautiful landscape of central Vietnam. Stop in Da Nang and visit the Cham Art Museum, which was founded in 1919. Its predecessor was the French School of the Far East. Have lunch.
Proceed to Hoi An, an important port and major trading center in South East Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries and now one of the UNESCO world heritage sites, stroll through Hoi An Ancient Town. Discover its unique character, its old-fashioned charm and the cultural influences of Japan, China and France as you visit the shops, assembly halls, temples and the famous Japanese Covered Bridge. Free at leisure. Overnight in Hoi An.
visit My Son Sanctuary, the ancient Capital of Cham Kingdom during the 7th to the 13th century. Overnight in Hoi An.
DAY 10: DA NANG – NHA TRANG (B, L, D)
Breakfast at hotel. Check out hotel. Transfer to Da Nang International Airport to take a local flight to the coastal city of Nha Trang.
Upon arrival, transfer to hotel for checking in. Free at leisure. Have lunch. Take an excursion to visit the Oceanographic Institute of Nha Trang, which has the vastest collection of marine organisms of the Eastern Sea. Then visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers, one of the many relics of the Champa Kingdom. Four towers remain from an original eight, each in a different style, suggesting that they were built over an extended period between the seventh and 12th centuries. Afterwards, visit Stone Church to see the unique architecture of French style in Nha Trang.
Drive to I – resort (optional) to enjoy hot mineral waterfall; hot mineral water swimming pool; or hot mud bathing.
Have dinner. Free at leisure. Overnight in Nha Trang
DAY 11: VINPEARL LAND (B, L) – DINNER FREE
Breakfast at hotel. Take a boat trip to visit the island of Hon Tam Island, an eco-green island with endless blue sea, white silky sand and tropical forest. Spend a few hours being charmed by the beauty of this topical island, partaking in various water activities. Have lunch on the famous bamboo island – Hon Tre Island.
Then travel to the World Entertainment of Vinpearl land by boat.
Admire Vinpearl’s largest aquarium in Southeast Asia with hundreds of thousands of marine life. Visitors will be moved by the escalators in a 90m long tunnel under the sea.
Participate in all the action, thrilling games (acrobatics, wooden carousel horse, carousel elephant) and the static games (glider, racing, space exploration, skiing, surfing, tram crash). Especially, enjoying the new 4D movie theater.
Watch the water music show
Walk along the wide street of shopping stalls with unique design.
On the way back, have full view of Vinpearl by crossing sea cable car of 3.320m long.
Return to the downtown of Nha Trang, spend the rest of the day at leisure. Overnight in Nha Trang.
DAY 12: NHA TRANG – HO CHI MINH
Breakfast at hotel. Check out hotel and transfer to Cam Ranh Aiport. Take a local flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Upon arrival, visit Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. Check in hotel. Have lunch.
In the afternoon, visit the War Remnants Museum to better understand the horrors of modern combat and the suffering inflicted on the Vietnamese people during the Vietnamese war, known as the American War in Vietnam. Afterwards, visit Reunification Palace, formerly known as the Presidential Palace that was the sight of South Vietnam's surrender in April 1975. Have dinner on cruise along Sai Gon River. Free at leisure. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.
DAY 13: HO CHI MINH – DEPARTURE (B)
Breakfast at hotel. Free at leisure until check-out time. Transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport for departure. End of services.
***SEE YOU AGAIN***
*** Noted: the sequence of the itinerary and meals is subjected to change without notice by the local ground agency.