Vietnam - The Charming North

Welcome to Hanoi – Vietnam!
Our driver will be welcoming you at Noi Bai airport; it takes us 35 minutes driving to hotel in the centre of Hanoi. Overnight in Hanoi. 
Please note: Standard check in time is 14:00. Early check in is subject to availability of the hotel.
Night activities suggestion: enjoy local beer at Ta Hien Streets, experience the ambience of sleepless street with life music, the young people of Hanoi and also foreign tourists. Hundred of bars and pubs in the Old Quarter are also at your disposal. Or just simple spend your time at shopping malls or various boutique Shops.
 

Breakfast at hotel.  
Around 8.00: Pick up from your hotel take you to visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex, which includes Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum – the final resting place of the beloved national hero, Uncle Ho – and President Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house where he lived off and on from 1958 to 1969. 
9.30: You’ll visit the One Pillar Pagoda, which is actually a group of structures that collectively make up a pagoda built over the water in the middle of a square lake.
After that, you’ll have a chance to explore the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shore of West Lake. From there, it’s onto the Temple of literature, which was Viet Nam’s first university and is dedicated to Confucius. 
12.30: You have lunch at the restaurant in the Old Quarter. Afterwards, you’ll visit Hoan Kiem Lake - the heart and soul of Hanoi. 
OPTION 1: TUE, THU, SAT, SUNDAY
Stop at Museum Of Ethnology. This superb museum showcases the depth of Vietnamese cultural diversity with an astounding collection of 15,000 artifacts gathered from throughout Vietnam. Maps, displays and dioramas are labeled in Vietnamese, French and English. Displays portray a typical village market, the making of comical hats and a Tay shamanic ceremony; videos show the real thing. You can also check out a traditional Black Thai house reconstructed in the museum. There's also a centre for research and conservation where scientists from all over the world study traditional Vietnamese cultures.
OPTION 2: MONDAY, WED, FRI
Depart for Bat Trang ceramic village which is about 20 km away from Ha Noi, this is pottery village with a half- millenary historic development.
15.30 - 16.00: Take the car back your hotel.
Overnight in Hanoi. 

Breakfast at hotel and check out. 
From Hanoi, at 8AM, head East for more than 3 hours to Halong Bay, the pride of the Gulf of Tonkin, a Natural World Heritage as designated by UNESCO in 1994. The road will pass by the Red River delta with green paddy fields and rural villages, where hard-work farmers are busy with their farming jobs, ploughing buffaloes or planting seedling. Upon arrival in Halong, we’ll take a big boat to cruise the Bay to discover the magnificent beauty of this “Descending-dragon” bay, created by thousands odd-shaped limestone rocks and karst grottoes. After a lunch of fresh seafood on board, we can visit the Surprising Grotto, stop for swimming or kayaking, passing floating villages and approach islets to enjoy their beauty in close distance. Back to the boat for dinner late afternoon. Evening attend activities on the boat or relax at your own leisure. Overnight on the boat near Titov Beach. 
Please note! The program may be little varied upon the cruise you choose. 

After breakfast, visit by boat to Luon Cave, a ring-shaped pool inside an island in Halong with absolutely tranquil landscape and emerald water. Back to the Wharf of Halong passing the most densely area with many islands that have been named like the Cock-Fighting Rock, Sail Island, Incense burner rock or Sea Dog Rock. Arrive at Halong Wharf around 11.00. 
Take shuttle bus back to Hanoi. Free at your own leisure. Overnight in Hanoi.  

You are free until transfer to the airport for departure flight. End of service! 
Please note: Standard check out time is 12:00.