Itinerary

Day 1   Saigon: Arrival and A O Show with Dinner
Welcome to Vietnam! On arrival you will be met in immigration for your fast-track arrival service. Look for the person with our welcome sign for you. Hand over your photo, visa letter and passport to the person meeting you. You will then be invited to sign the visa form already completed on your behalf before receiving the visa label in your passport. Collect your luggage and clear customs. Your guide and driver will be waiting for you at the arrivals meeting area just outside the airport entrance doors to transfer you to your hotel.
Your special evening will begin at 5:15pm in the lobby of the Caravelle. Carl will be there to meet you and he will escort you across the road to the Saigon Opera House and introduce you to the AO Show organizer, who will give you a 15 minute exclusive pre-show tour of the more than 115 year old historical building. Enjoy a drink in the WOW lounge before settling in to your seats in time for the contemporary acrobatic and theatrical dance show to start at 6:00pm. Feel captivated by the traditions and culture of Vietnam as the story plays out before you. After the show you will have the opportunity to meet the performers and take photos with them in the Opera House lobby. Walk across to the Moët & Chandon Champagne Corner at the Caravelle Hotel and enjoy a glass of champagne and live lounge music with Carl, who will discuss the A O Show experience with you. Take a short history tour of the hotel with him, including the famous Saigon Saigon Bar, finishing in the Reflections Restaurant. Between 8:00pm and 8:30pm, Carl will say goodnight and direct you to the Restaurant Manager who will seat you for your dinner at Reflections.
Meals included: Dinner
Overnight at Caravelle Saigon – 1 Double Heritage Saigon Suite

Day 2   Saigon: Culinary Experience by Motorbike and Truc Mai House
Saigon is a vibrant and bustling city. Relax as you sit behind your trusted driver on a motorbike for a journey where you can combine some of the classic historical highlights the city has to offer (Reunification Palace, museums, pagodas, Cho Lon...), getting a real insight into local life behind the main streets. Meet and chat to local people, try special local cuisine at the different locations you stop by and learn about daily life. Get to know Saigon with a refreshing twist to suit your culinary and cultural tastes. Our guides are the experts, and they will discuss the plan for the time with you in advance so that you get the very best experience designed just for you. Please note helmets will be provided. Today, you have 4 hours to explore with your guide.
This evening, your guide and driver will transfer you to the Mai Family Home. The stories of Vietnamese history and culture can be heard and understood through its traditional music. Mr. Truc and Mrs. Ngo (husband and wife), along with the other members of the family, are experts at playing traditional Vietnamese musical instruments such as the monochord zither, bamboo xylophone, and stone lithophone, among others. They have been granted special permission to share their knowledge with guests in Vietnam and for an hour you will be taken on a journey back in time. Enjoy a private concert as they tell you stories and play their traditional melodies. Then you will have the opportunity to try your hand at playing the instruments in their collection. At the end of the evening with these wonderful people, you will have unique personal insight into the culture and history of Vietnam. You will then be taken to a restaurant for your dinner and later returned to your hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight at Caravelle Saigon - 1 Double Heritage Saigon Suite

Day 3   Saigon: Afternoon at Cu Chi Tunnels and Dinner with Veteran
You have the morning free to relax or explore on your own.
This afternoon take an excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels (about a 90 minute drive). Here you will learn about, and be given the opportunity to descend into, the tunnels themselves where the guerilla fighters constructed an amazing underground base and village network during the French Resistance, and the Vietnam War. Finally, to end your trip, you will be taken to the private home of a war veteran of the Vietnamese American war. Here you will have the opportunity to meet and chat with him and their family whilst enjoying a delicious home cooked dinner before heading back to Saigon ready for your evening at leisure.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight at Caravelle Saigon - 1 Double Heritage Saigon Suite

Day 4   Saigon: Villages and Markets of the Mekong Delta
The latest recommended time for your guide to meet you and set off this morning is 7:30am. The earlier the start the better, so as to catch the market in Cai Be when it is most active. This morning you will be driven to Phu Nhuan Bridge in Phu An village, located in the Mekong Delta approximately 2 hours away from Saigon. Here you will board a small private boat to explore this small shady river and begin with a short cruise. Take a break along the way at a unique village, where you can enjoy a walk around the area, meet some of the friendly locals and learn more about how they cultivate the many rice paddies in the area.  Return to your boat and continue along the river for a further 50 minutes, until you reach colorful Cai Be. Continue on for a short distance until you reach Tan Phong Island, where you will step ashore for a short bike ride of about 40 minutes (longer or shorter depending on your preferences), taking in the island’s luscious gardens and peaceful village life. At the end of the bike ride, you will have lunch in a beautiful traditional garden house and be presented with local dishes, such as Elephant Ear Fish rolled and wrapped with rice paper, as well as different Vietnamese vegetables and fruits served with tamarind dipping sauce. After lunch, if time permits, you may then enjoy being rowed along in a traditional sampan boat alongside the banks of the fruit gardens and through the narrow shady canals. Enjoy the waterways a little longer as you cruise on back to Cai Be where your private transport will be waiting for you. Relax on the drive back to your hotel in Saigon (a drive of about 2 ½ hours), where you should arrive around 5:30pm.
Please note: You have the option to begin with Cai Be and end with Phu An village. Your guide will discuss the day with you in advance.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Snack
Overnight at Caravelle Saigon - 1 Double Heritage Saigon Suite

Day 5   Hoi An Arrival and Wander the Ancient Town
You will be picked up at your hotel and taken to the airport for your onward flight Vietnam Airlines VN110 departing Saigon at 08:30 and arriving in Danang at 09:50.
Your guide will meet you at Danang Airport for your private transfer (up to 30 minutes) to your hotel for check-in.
​Your guide will meet you at your hotel at 8:00am and together you will head out on a walking tour of Hoi An for a few hours. Visit the Ancient Town, which is home to the beautiful Chua Cau, (roofed bridge), as well as Hoi Quan, the ancient meeting places, some ancestral family homes and some of the lovely hidden pagodas. If you find you have a little extra time this morning and wish to keep exploring with your guide, then perhaps head outside the Ancient Town and learn more about the Hoi An of today. In the spirit of tradition, you'll also have the chance to enjoy the famous cuisine of Central Vietnam in a local restaurant in the old part of town. You have up to 4 hours to explore with your guide today.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner
Overnight at Boutique Hoi An Resort - 1 Double Deluxe Room

Day 6   Hoi An: Cam Kim Island Bike Ride
Your guide will meet you at your hotel at 8:00am and transfer you to the rendezvous point for your bike ride. After setting up your bicycle, catch your private 30 minute boat cruise over to Cam Kim Island. You will hop off at a secluded point to begin your ride. Along the way you will meet the families that produce traditional crafts such as ornate furniture, coracles (traditional bamboo basket boats) and sleeping mats. If you wish, you will also have the chance to take a short ride in a coracle on one of the small canals. With your guide, follow the winding paths in and out of the country hamlets. Head to the local ferry for different 15 minute boat experience back to Hoi An on the mainland. You have up to 4 hours to explore with your guide today.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Boutique Hoi An Resort - 1 Double Deluxe Room

Day 7   Hoi An to Hue: Trip to My Son, Tra Que Village Lunch and Tha Om Ancient House
Your guide will meet you at your hotel at 07:30am. My Son is a fascinating archaeological site with ruinous temples featuring both Hindu and Buddhist influences. Walk through the beautiful park where a stream flows through the center and various temples dot the landscape. Your guide will explain many of the temples and point out interesting features. At 10:30am/3pm daily there is a 15 minute indoor “Cham Apsara dance” show you may wish to see. This is already included in your entrance ticket. Tra Que Village is special for farming its fresh organic produce for both culinary and medicinal uses. You will end in Tra Que and experience a little of the life in the village.
From here, your guide will accompany you on the 3 ½ hour private road transfer to Hue. The route will take you along the spectacular central coastline and the edges of the Annamite Mountain Range to where it finally meets the sea. During the drive, your guide will also run through the next phase of your itinerary. Once you arrive in Hue, check in to your hotel.
Your guide will take you to Tha Om Ancient House located in Kim Long Village near Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue. This is a beautiful home with gardens exemplifying the use of Feng Shui in ancient architecture. The owner of the home is from mandarin royal family descent and designs houses. He will give you a personal tour and you can then stay and enjoy a home cooked meal with the family served in the Ancient House.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight at La Residence Hotel & Spa - 1 Double Superior River View Room

Day 8   Hue: Countryside Motorbike and Lunch with Nuns
Your guide will meet you at your hotel at 8:00am. Hue is a historical location with strong cultural ties to its heritage and former dynastic rulers. Relax as you sit behind your trusted driver on a motorbike for a journey where you will gain insight into both past and present cultural traditions. Chat with the locals you encounter on your journey - families making conical hats, sellers in the local markets, fishermen on the rivers, rice farmers and villagers tending their local gardens and family temples. Take a moment at the Thanh Toan wooden bridge, built in 1786, where your guide will have a few treats in store for you. Continue by motorbike to Thuy Xuan to enjoy a vegetarian lunch around 1pm or 1:30pm cooked by the resident Buddhist nuns. You will be able to hear the same Buddhist nuns chanting at 2pm. On the return journey you have the option to either travel by a combination of boat and motorbike, or travel by motorbike for the full distance to take in the rural countryside. If you wish, you can stop to see the nearby Crying Elephant Temple where elephants were worshipped, and the Ho Quyen Arena where tigers and elephants once fought, gladiator style, to the death for the entertainment of royals. Our guides are experts, and they will discuss the plan for today in advance with you so that you get the very best experience. Expect to be back to your hotel between 3:00pm and 4:00pm, depending on how your exploration goes today. Helmets will be provided.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at La Residence Hotel & Spa - 1 Double Superior River View Room

Day 9     Hue to PhongNha: Tour of the Citadel and DMZ
Your guide will meet you at 8am at your hotel. With your guide you will explore the old capital city, now a well-known World Cultural Heritage Site. Often referred to as ‘ancient’, Hue’s Citadel is comparatively modern in European terms. Built over thirty years in the early part of the 19th century, the Citadel encompasses three ‘courts’ covering a total of 6km. The Imperial City, built along the same lines as the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, was the country's administrative center. Senior mandarins, court officers and civil servants would have entered by the ‘Ngo Mon’ (noon gate). Directly behind were the Dai Trieu Nghi (great rites courtyard) and the Thai Hoa Palace (throne hall) where the Emperor would meet foreign rulers and emissaries, high-ranking ministers and other dignitaries. At the heart of the Imperial City was the ‘Tu Cam Thanh’ (Forbidden Purple City). Only members of the royal family, the Emperor’s concubines, and trusted senior mandarins and officers such as the royal doctor were allowed through the sole entry gate. Inside were various palaces and the Emperor’s private apartments. Despite more than fifty years of decay and attrition, the Citadel is still imposing, and recent renovation work has restored several of its buildings to their previous glory.
From here you will head north toward Dong Hoi, stopping for lunch along the way. As you drive, you will pass through the infamous DMZ, where some of the bloodiest battles were fought during the Vietnam/American War.  Time permitting; you may stop to take a fascinating tour of the Vinh Moc Tunnels kept as a monument to the determination of the Vietnamese to continue living in their traditional village areas. Whole villages moved underground and lived in these tunnels and caverns. Visit a small church showing the signs of mortar attack in the area and visit US bases kept as museums containing photographs and memorials of the war. Cross the Ben Hai River, used to demarcate the division between North and South Vietnam. An hour further on from Dong Hoi you will arrive in Phong Nha around 7pm and will check into your hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Oxalis Home - 1 Double River View

Day 10   Hang En 2 Day Cave Adventure: Day 1
Start your ultimate adventure with a pickup from your hotel in Phong Nha between 8:00am and 8:30am and have a short transfer to Oxalis Headquarters. Learn all about safety and collect your gear before driving 45 mins through the National Park to reach the trailhead.
A steep jungle hill starts the adventure, with a refreshing river at the bottom. Hike through rich jungle to reach the Ban Doong minority village, where a hot cup of tea welcomes you. Lunch takes place shortly after near the river, and then it’s back into the jungle, through river streams, and across the river valley until Hang En lays on the horizon. Enter the cave around 15:00pm, and enjoy your afternoon swimming, before a sizzling BBQ dinner is served, complete with rice wine and beautiful flocks of swifts overhead.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11   Hang En 2 Day Cave Adventure: Day 2
Awake for breakfast early and explore the breathtaking exit, and then trek through the dry passage to the viewpoint high above camp, where 300 million year old fossils can be witnessed. In the late morning, trek back through the mountainous river valley, through jungle and across streams, until reaching Doong village again.
Enjoy a picnic lunch by the stream and then prepare for the biggest challenge ahead, climbing the treacherous hill up to the Ho Chi Minh Road. Watch out for leeches and push ahead to the road, where cold drinks are waiting. Return by vehicle to Phong Nha by 17:00pm.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Oxalis Home - 1 Double River View

Day 12   Hanoi: Arrival
You will be picked up at your hotel and taken to the airport for your onward flight with Vietnam Airlines VN1592 departing Dong Hoi at 08:50 and arriving in Hanoi at 09:50 where you will be met by your guide and driven the 1 hour journey to Hanoi.
Begin your half day by discussing with your guide what you would like to do and see. There are so many options that we like to leave it up to you and your guide to decide what suits you best. Some interesting highlights that you may want to consider are the Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and his House on stilts, One Pillar Pagoda, Quan Thanh Temple, and Tran Quoc Pagoda, the Ethnology Museum, and the Art museum.
Attend a water puppet show to experience a truly traditional Vietnamese evening.
Enjoy a relaxing meal sampling the delicious cuisine of Vietnam. Your guide will be on hand to transfer you to and from the restaurant, and to help you select your meal.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel - 1 Double Luxury Room

Day 13   Hanoi: Exploring the Outskirts by Bicycle
You will leave the city noise behind this morning as you meet your guide and set out into Hanoi’s countryside on this easy 20km route. Take the scenic option out of the city’s Old Quarter and into the countryside where you will pass Long Bien Bridge which was built by a famous Eiffel construction company at the beginning of the 20th Century. Your first stop will be the oldest Bat Trang Pottery Village in Northern Vietnam, where you will get a chance to learn about their traditional handicrafts. Climb back on the bike to continue exploring the area, passing small temples, and learning more about the religion in this area. You will see lovely villages and homes, surrounded by flowers and trees. Head back into Hanoi for a refreshing lunch, after which you will discover the beauty of the back roads as you cycle along the banks of the Red River. Enjoy the beauty of rural life as your guide describes traditional activities before stopping at a local Bonsai garden. Stop off at a local home where you can enjoy a cup of tea and some fresh fruit with the owner. Continue cycling through the banana and vegetable farms in the middle of Red River Island. Your last stop will be Quang Ba, another traditional pottery village where you will see how the ceramics are transported to stores in Hanoi. Keep your eyes open on the cycle back for colorful fields of flowers -- you may even spot local growers picking the brightest buds to take to city shops! You will ride along the back roads by the river to return to the bike shop in Hanoi. Your guide will assist you to get a taxi back to your hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel - 1 Double Luxury Room

Day 14   Halong Bay Day 1: Seaplane to Halong Bay, Halong City to Bai Tu Long Bay and Thien Canh Son Cave

This morning your guide will meet you at your hotel at 8am .Today, you leave bustling Hanoi behind with a sea plane transfer to Halong Bay. Your guide will take you to the Noi Bai airport where you will board your sea plane at 10am.
Check-in is required half an hour before departure, and should take no longer than 5 minutes. After about 45 minutes, you will find yourself soaring over stunning Halong Bay. The final 15 minutes of your flight will be a wonderful sightseeing opportunity, before landing at the Ha Long Tuan Chau Marina, where a cruise guide will meet and transfer you to the pier. 
Arrive at Ha Long City by midday where you will transfer to the pier to board your junk. Enjoy a welcome drink before relaxing with a fresh seafood lunch, while cruising in the magnificent Bai Tu Long Bay (the peaceful northern part of Ha Long Bay, commonly overlooked by most visitors). Take in the breathtaking serenity of your surroundings. Mid-afternoon you can jump in for a quick swim in the crystal clear waters before your visit to Thien Can Son Cave. A short cruise further will bring you to Hon Co Island where you can spend the late afternoon swimming, kayaking, or simply relaxing on the white sandy beach. You will finish the day on board with dinner around 7pm followed by time to relax and reflect on your day.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight at Princess Junk - 1 Cabin Private Charter

Day 15   Halong Bay Day 2: Vung Vieng Fishing Village to Halong City, Drive to Hanoi and Departure
Today’s early start with breakfast around 7:30am is a wonderful opportunity to admire the bay waking up around you. An hour later you will be taken in a traditional rowboat to meet the local people who call Vung Vieng fishing village their home. Learn all about their daily life, the floating school and fish farms. Enjoy your lunch as you cruise back to Hon Gai Harbor to disembark at the pier around midday.
Your guide will meet you as you disembark and will transfer you back to Hanoi. Your journey will take around 3 ½ hours through the historical countryside of the Red River Delta which is peppered with hundred-year-old villages. Along the way you will have the opportunity to take a comfort break and stretch your legs. You will arrive at Noi Bai airport in time to connect with your departure flight.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch

PLEASE NOTE
This itinerary is currently in progress and does not reflect hotel room availability. The pricing is not final until the itinerary has been confirmed and booked.

Price includes:

·         Air tickets Saigon - Danang / Dong Hoi - Hanoi

·         Boat tickets as specified above

·         Accommodation as specified above

·         Air-conditioned car/van with driver 

·         Licensed English speaking guides

·         Tours and admission fees as mentioned above

·         Meals as specified in itinerary, including water

Price excludes:

·         Personal expenses

·         Visa fees

·         Airport tax

·         Drinks (except water) and meals not mentioned in itinerary 

·         Tips 

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