11 Day Enchanting Vietnam

Welcome to Hanoi – The Capital City of Vietnam!
Upon arrival, picked up by the local tour guide and transferred downtown. Depending on your arrival time, if your room is not ready to check in yet, you can leave your luggage there, relax or walk around by your own to discover this charm and green city, home to numerous temples, pagodas, and museums or sample many delicious local street foods or just simply sit at an outdoor cafe and sip a cup of Vietnamese coffee with strong flavor and experience bustling local life.
6:00pm, meet your tour leader and other fellow travelers at hotel lobby. Transfer to the local restaurant for welcome dinner. Transfer back to your hotel for overnight after dinner. Overnight at hotel in Hanoi.
Note: the standard check-in time at the hotel is at 2pm. Early check in is subject to hotel availability.
 

Have breakfast at hotel.
In the morning, we will start our city tour from Ba Dinh Square where the most solemn ceremonies of Hanoi take place. We first visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (Closed on Monday and Friday) where is the last rest place of Ho Chi Minh President, we then visit One-Pillar pagoda nearby with unique architecture first built on 1049 by King Ly Thai Tong. Continue visiting Ho Chi Minh Residence including the wooden ethnic minority style house, which was built on stilts, is surrounded by lovely peaceful gardens and his fish pond. Go on to the Temple of Literature, the very first high school of Vietnam Scholars and a temple dedicated Confucius. Have lunch at the local restaurant.
Afternoon, have an overall view of the capital by a “cyclo” visit, which will go through the fascinating network of narrow alleys and shop houses also known as ‘The 36 Streets’ – each street being named after the merchandise traditionally sold there, ranging from fabrics to crafts and from medicines to tombstones. Drop by Hoan Kiem Lake. From here, start exploring Vietnamese cuisine through a street foodie tour. Strolling around the 36 ancient streets in the Old Quarter with your local guide, you will be introduced and savor the different tastes of the local foods such as authentic “PHO” (rice noodle with chicken or beef) or Bun Cha (grill pork with noodle) with spring roll, banh mi with fusion foods inside like pork/beef/egg combined with pickles, Papaya salad with peanut and dry beef, paper roll with coconut and molasses, sweet soup, sticky rice with ice cream and many more. Tasting Vietnamese Coffee with egg or salt flavor at a local boutique cafe will be an exotic experience that you must try during city tour. Return to your hotel for overnight.

Breakfast at hotel.
At 8am, we check out and drive about 3.5 hours to Halong Bay, the pride of the Gulf of Tonkin, a Natural World Heritage as designated by UNESCO in 1994 and 2006. 
Upon arrival in Halong, check in the overnight cruise to discover the magnificent beauty of this “Descending-dragon” bay, created by thousands odd-shaped limestone rocks and karst grottoes. After a lunch on board, we can visit the Grottos, stop for swimming or kayaking, passing floating houses and approach islets to enjoy their beauty in close distance. Back to the cruise, enjoy cooking demonstration before having dinner. Evening attend activities on the boat or relax at your own leisure. Overnight on the cruise. 
Please note the program may be little varied upon the cruise you choose. 

You should wake up early to enjoy the dawn on the sea in the early morning. The Vietnamese call the "East Sea" by a point-oriented name "Eastern Sea", so you may guess how miraculous seeing the sunrise over the islets of the Bay. After breakfast, our boat will continue to cruise in marvelous areas, where almost each islet has its own name, adopting its shape or reminiscent like Sail Island, Fisherman’s head rock, Butterfly rock or Turtle islet etc. Check out your room and have brunch on board while the cruise coming back the pier. Disembark from the boat, transfer back to Hanoi. Transfer to the airport to take a flight to Danang, a coastal city in the Central Vietnam. Upon arrival, welcomed by the local tour guide and transferred to check in hotel in Hoian Ancient Town, 30km south of Danang. Check in hotel. Have dinner at local restaurant. Overnight in Hoian.

Have breakfast at your hotel. 
Transfer to Cam Thanh coconut village. Here, you will experience basket boat ride around the coconut forest, learn about the daily life of Vietnamese fishermen, their families and their community. You will surely experience the feeling of floating on the waves of water and join an equally fun basket boat race between the baskets together in the cheering and bustling music drum. Coconut forest is a very unique eco region, with a beautiful mangrove forest, is the habitat of many precious animals such as, crab, shrimp, fish and even animals soft body. Local people will teach you how to paddle the Vietnamese unique bamboo basket boat. You will hear stories of past wars and the harsh conditions that soldiers have to endure. Transfer to Tra Que herb village where you can participate in gardening activities such as raking the ground, sowing, watering greens, transplanting and tending greens. After working on the farm, we can relax and cook with a chef the local specialties, such as spring rolls that you can then taste. Have lunch there then transferring to the town.

Afternoon, you take interesting walk over the tile-roofed Japanese Bridge, visit taciturn Chinese Assembly Halls, enjoy the attractiveness of ancient houses or listen to folk music of Central Vietnam at old club-houses. Later we can stop at shrines or stroll into the market located by Thu Bon river, where you may find the same feelings of the artists, who see the rooftops of Hoian a magical old world of Oriental feel and source of inspiration. This is also a wonderful town to shop for lanterns, soft silk, raw silk, or get your clothes tailored within a day.

Evening, amaze the town lighten up with thousands of colorful lanterns and night market by the River. Transfer back to your hotel.
 

Have breakfast at hotel. It is your own day to explore this charming town your way. You can jump into a food tour to taste many local delicious dishes such as Cao Lau, noodle, bread,… or lost in the shopping streets where you can find variety of products selling from silk cloths, souvenirs, painting, lanterns,…or just leisurely biking on the shadowed roads to Cua Dai beach or to the craft villages such as Thanh Ha Pottery Village or Kim Bong Carpentry Village.

• Option tour to Ba Na Hill with Lunch

Morning transfer to Ba Na Hills for discovering this beautiful attraction in Da Nang city. You will take a cable car to the summit of mountain (at 1487m of sea level). Start visiting Ba Na Hill with many different attractions: Funicular, Debay ancient wine cellar & Le Jardin D’Amour, Linh Ung pagoda, Thich Ca Buddist statue, etc. 
This afternoon you continue to join activities and games in Fantasy Park. Later walk to the summit of the mountain at the height 1487m – the highest one of Ba Na Mountain, visit Bell Tower, Nghinh Phong tower and Golden Bridge, to take beautiful photos of the mountain and Da Nang city. Late afternoon, taking the cable car back to foothill. 
Transfer to hotel in Danang. Your own time at leisure. Overnight in Danang.
Please note: Wax Museum entrance fee (USD 5/person), wine cellar entrance fee (USD 5/person) and coin games are NOT included in my quotation, joining them will be at your own account.

• Option tour for lantern making course

Participate in the lantern making class at a local family workshop.  With the guidance of the instructor, you can make your own complete lantern from crafting a bamboo frame to create your lantern, choosing between a range of different colored silks and designs. You of course will bring home your own product as a souvenir which can be folded up neatly in your suitcase

• Option tour to My Son Sanctuary – Boat trip to Kim Bong - Lunch

This morning, drive to visit My Son Sancutary where you can discover the hidden treasure of the Cham culture that once brightly developed in the area of present Central Vietnam dated from VII century to XIV century. This is a cluster of partially ruin Hindu temples that have been abandoned for a long time located in a lush valey surrounded by the mountains. Thanks to the beauty and secrets of building the Cham Towers hereby, My Son had been also designated by UNESCO as one of the five World Heritages in Vietnam. Return back to Hoian Town by boat trip on Thu Bon River. Stop en route to visit Kim Bong Capentry village located by the river.  Drop of at your hotel. Afternoon at leisure.
 

Breakfast at hotel then check out and transfer to Hue through Hai Van Pass (the “Ocean Cloudy Mountain Pass”), enjoy viewing the beauty of Lang Co Beach en route.
Upon arrival, have lunch at the local restaurant and proceed for sightseeing.
Being recognized by UNESCO as the 1st Cultural World Heritage for Vietnam, Hue is highlighted by the old royal architectural works and the most traditional Vietnamese lifestyle. We will discover the charm of the city from the Royal Citadel, Forbidden City, Hue Royal Museum. Go on to visit Thien Mu pagoda, the iconic of Hue city. Dinner is served at the local restaurant with Hue’s specialties. Transfer to your hotel for overnight.
 

Have breakfast at your hotel then check out.
This morning, drive 12 km out of Hue City to visit the Tombs of Emperor Minh Mang located on the west bank of Perfume River. Minh Mang tomb was built from 1840 and completed in 1843 with the effort of ten thousand workers and artisians. The Tomb offers a balance of nature and structures that is unmatched among tombs in Hue. The solemn and quiet architecture set in a poetic landscape demonstrates both the Emperor's strictness and deep beliefs. 
Continue visiting Emperor Khai Dinh’s Tomb, the last great tomb of the Nguyen dynasty with a mix of Asian and European style in architecture and decoration. The tomb began construction in 1920 and took eleven years to complete, and was still unfinished when the Emperor Khai Dinh passed away. Though in extent, Khai Dinh’ Tomb is small in comparison with the rest of Imperia tombs, its construction, decoration and details are very elaborate. Have lunch at the local restaurant then transfering to the airport to take a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, the most dynamic metropolis of Vietnam and still called as Saigon by many local. Upon arrival, picked up by tour guide and transferred downtown to check in hotel. Dinner will be served at the local restaurant. Overnight at hotel HCMC.
 

This morning drive to visit Cu Chi tunnels - the network of over 200km of tunnels became legendary when they played a vital role in the War. In their heyday, the tunnels were functioning underground cities including numerous trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers & kitchens. After a short introduction video showing how the tunnels were constructed, you will have a chance to crawl into a short section of the tunnels to feel the oppressive narrowness and heat inside. Return to HCMC by after lunch.
Afternoon, the sightseeing to visit the Reunification Palace, the witness of the fierce Vietnam War ended in 1975. The grand building today is a Museum and Hall of official receptions. Nearby the Palace are the Notre Dame Cathedral (view from outside only), built between 1877 and 1883 and colonial-styled Central Post Office, one of the city’s major landmarks. Coming to the War Remnants Museum, you can learn a part of how Vietnamese had struggled and fought for their independence, freedom, and peace of the nation and the locals' perspective of the Vietnam War. The exhibits, such as weapons, documents, and photographs, display in the museum are firm evidence of war crimes in Vietnam and speak for the heroic actions of the former Vietnamese generation. Then visit Ben Thanh market, a symbol of the City.
 

Breakfast at hotel and head to My Tho, the homeland of coconut and family factories with local products like coconut candy, rice paper,… Upon arrival, embark on the boat cruising on the mighty Mekong River viewing the life to the local people live along the banks. We stop to visit an island in the area, enjoy the fresh tropical fruits served in the heart of the lush garden accompanied by traditional southern Vietnamese folk music. Later, embark on other small boats rowed by the local people thru the small canals shadowed by water coconut trees to visit the local factories. There you will taste the honey tea and see the local people produce the coconut candy milk and of course you also can try it or stroll in the garden where the locals feed honeybee. Lunch is served at local restaurant by the river. 
In the afternoon, continue to visit Vinh Trang pagoda, a famous pogoda in the area with architecture combination of Chinese, Cambodian, and French cultures. Return to Ho Chi Minh City late afternoon. Overnight in Saigon.
 

After breakfast, depend on the flight time you will have free time for own leisure or exploration of this city before transferring to the airport for the departure flight home. Bid farewell to a friendly and hospitable Vietnamese people.