SPLENDORS OF VIETNAM TOUR – 26 DAYS FROM HANOI

Vietnam is deserved to be a top country to travel in your lifetime which is famous for its peaceful country-sides, green rice paddy fields, rugged mountain ranges, exotic ethnic minorities, amazing white sandy beaches, spectacular bays, mysterious pagodas and significant historical sites. Travel to Vietnam with Vivutravel is a perfect idea and your Vietnam holiday packages will be memorable.

You will be welcomed upon your arrival at Noi Bai airport (Hanoi) by our experienced English speaking tour guide and driver before transferring to your hotel for check-in. Overnight in Hanoi.

If you have chance to stay in Hanoi at the weekend, it is worth to join the interesting night market near Hoan Kiem Lake, featured with walking streets, beautiful red lanterns, local street foods and Vietnamese styled souvenirs.

Ranked among the world’s best destinations, Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam with more than 1000 years of history and culture. Hanoi is also well-known for its beautiful lakes with the image of local Tai Chi in the early morning, tree-line boulevards, flowers on bicycles and delicious dishes.

05:30 Wake up early and be ready for an amazing morning trip around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter – the symbols of Hanoi city and Hanoian. You will be surprised by seeing local Hanoians doing morning exercises around Hoan Kiem Lake as they are so natural practicing such strange Tai Chi in their own ways. Let’s see the way they do and join with them! From Hoan Kiem Lake, take a look at the Old Quarter as it is the only time in day you can enjoy quiet atmosphere.

07:00 Have breakfast with Pho – the most famous and popular dish in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular.

08:00: Visit Ho Chi Minh complex with first stop at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum –a large memorial pays homage to the national hero – President Ho Chi Minh who led the country to independence and reunification. The Mausoleum is located at Ba Dinh Square where Ho Chi Minh President read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945 establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Then take a short walk to the Presidential Palace and house on stilts.

Next to Ho Chi Minh complex, One Pillar Pagoda (special with unique architecture of lotus flower) is a must-see place for tourists to Hanoi.

Continue to the Temple of Literature which is the first university in Vietnam. It was constructed in 1070, first to honor Confucius and nowadays to celebrate the doctorates and ranked scholars of Vietnam.

After lunch, visit the Museum of Ethnology – an insight into the 54 different ethnic groups living in Vietnam.It is here you will learn about the cultural diversity of different ethnic groups from religious events to the symbolic rituals as well as display of a variety of Vietnamese homes as full-scale replicas outside.

End the day with a short cyclo ride around the old streets observing daily life of Hanoian, take exotic photos of Hanoi traffic and enjoy a fantastic water puppet show.

Overnight in Hanoi.

08:30 Pick up at your hotel and take a smooth drive on new national highway to Sapa, passing beautiful sceneries on both sides of the road including countryside areas, rice fields and mountains.

14:30 Arrive at your hotel in Sapa, check-in your hotel and take a short rest.

16:00 Take a glimpse of Sapa town and you will have chance to see Sapa Stone Church and old streets.

Have dinner at a local restaurant (on your own) and overnight in Sapa.

Today, our beautiful trekking tour will start at 08:30 at your hotel for a short drive out of Sapa town to Hang Da Church. On the way, we can stop at some view points to enjoy the panorama view of the whole Muong Hoa Valley.

09:00     Arrive at Hang Da Church, take a short visit around the church as this church is serving for nearly 1000 local ethnic people. Next to the church is a small beautiful ethnic village where is intact and stays away from modern society.

09:30     Continue your trekking route to Hau Thao village where you will see the stunning view of Muong Hoa valley. Discover the daily life of the Black Hmong minority and their traditional customs and costume as soon as you arrive at the village.

Trek ahead to Pho village then down the hill to Giang Ta Chai village of Giay people.

Have lunch in Giang Ta Chai Village before starting the trek by climbing the mountain on a small trail near the waterfall. Stop for a while to take photos on top of the waterfall. The trek will lead you through the bamboo forest to Ta Van village of Giay people which is praised as one of the most beautiful and fantastic trekking routes in Sapa.

Arrive in Ta Van village, check-in your homestay and overnight there.

Have breakfast with local dishes prepared by our host. Then visit around Ta Van village for a while before going to Lao Chai village – the home of Black Hmong people. Enjoy the view of the largest rice terrace fields in Sapa. Tan Van & Lao Chai villages are famous as the best place to enjoy terraced rice fields.

Continue walking to Y Linh Ho village then up the main road where you will return Sapa town by car.

Check-in your hotel in Sapa and overnight there.

The markets in the Northern Vietnam are always the colorful meeting places for the hill tribes, spotlight for any Sapa Tours and of course, your unique Vietnam Tours experience. Minority people come down from the mountains to sell their products, or just for catching up on the latest news, gossip, drinking away troubles or seeking for lover. In the morning, drive to visit one of the areas weekly markets;

Market days:
Can Cau Market – Saturdays
Bac Ha Market or Muong Hum Market or Muong Khuong Market – Sundays
Cao Son Market – Wednesdays
Lung Khau Nhin Market – Thursdays
Coc Ly Market – Tuesdays

In fternoon, drive back to Hanoi for overnight.

We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3.5 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. At half way, we’ll have a visit to a handicraft workshop with fine clothes, embroidered paintings, stone statuettes and all kinds of gems mined in Vietnam such as star rubies or sapphires… Our destination is Halong bay – the most famous World Heritage Site in Vietnam, famous for its beautiful seascape, thousands of spectacular islands and islets jutting out from the sea, amazing caves with marvelous stalagmites and stalactites in different sizes and shapes.

11:30 – 12:00 Upon arrival, you’ll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you’ll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we’ll stop some times for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Top white sand beach before anchoring for the night.

Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.

Free at leisure until we pick you up and transfer to Noi Bai airport for flight to Hue – the ancient capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty.

Upon your arrival at Phu Bai airport (Hue), pick up and transfer to the center where we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. It is located on the banks of poetic Perfume River with typical traditional architecture of Hue pagodas and famous for the event that buddhist monk from this temple, Thich Quang Duc, burn himself to death for anti-government protest in 1963.

The next stops will be King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

Overnight in Hue

Free at leisure until we pick you up and transfer to Noi Bai airport for flight to Hue – the ancient capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty.

Upon your arrival at Phu Bai airport (Hue), pick up and transfer to the center where we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. It is located on the banks of poetic Perfume River with typical traditional architecture of Hue pagodas and famous for the event that buddhist monk from this temple, Thich Quang Duc, burn himself to death for anti-government protest in 1963.

The next stops will be King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

Overnight in Hue

After having breakfast, visit to the Imperial Citadel which will give you a better understanding of the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture.

Then continue drive to Hoi An – highlight of any tour to Vietnam – is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. This scenic drive passes through the fishing village of Lang Co before climbing over the Pass of Ocean Clouds. On the way, stop in Danang to visit the Cham Museum, which contains the finest collection of Cham sculptures in the world and Marble Mountain – a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels and temples. Upon arrival in Hoi An, free to take walking tour of the Hoi An ancient town centre.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Our Farming & Fishing Life Tour provides you with a close-up and intimate exposure to both the local farming and fishing communities. Accompanied by your tour guide, you commence the day leisurely cycling along country roads witnessing local Vietnamese rural life first hand, discovering all manner of photo opportunities – coming and visiting a beautiful organic vegetable village, watering and planting vegetable, hoeing a soil with local farmer, riding a water buffalo in a rice paddy field; seeing ducks swimming along the rice farm or farmers tending their crops. The photo opportunities are endless.

Tour guide meets you at your hotel and cycle to a local farming village traveling along picturesque country roads.

Share in the daily work life of local farmers – hoeing and a soil, watering veggie at an organic herb garden, riding water buffalo in the field and enjoy the freshest air of the countryside beauty.

Board  and cruise to the mouth of the river where it meets the Cua Dai Sea. Learn and try your hand at local traditional fishing techniques using round and cast nets. Learn to paddle the strange and unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats.

Explore the now tranquil coconut-palm flanked waterways of a past war and hear of the extreme conditions endured by soldiers on both sides

Back on-board our Hoi An boat, enjoy lunch and cold beer or soft drink

Return to hotel by car and overnight in Hoi An.

Hoi An Ancient Town -the highlight of any tour to Vietnam that no Vietnam Tours maker would skip, is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Day free to cycle through rice paddies in the countryside of Hoi An ancient town, shop for souvenirs among the antique shops and art galleries, or just sit at sidewalk cafes and soak up the atmosphere of this quaint town. Or relax on the white sandy beach of the famous Cua Dai Beach. Overnight in a Hoi An hotel.

After breakfast, our Vietnam tour guide and driver in Hoian will transfer you to the airport for the morning flight with Vietnam airlines to Nha Trang  airport then transfer to hotel.

Free at leisure. Overnight in a Nha Trang  hotel.

AM: Unforgettable boat tour with glass-bottom boat ! Start at 8.00 am from your hotel to Cau Da port. Before embarking on boat, you are invited to visit Oceanographic Institute, where you can see the whole selection of sea creatures in Nhatrang bay. Then you will take boat cruise on the site of the institute or at Cau Da peer & be transferred to Mun island, where glass bottom boat standby takes you around this island. You can see the beauty of the live coral reefs, sea plants & creatures of Nhatrang bay by looking through the glass bottom of the boat whilst cruising around Mun island. The glass-bottom boat then will transfer you back to the boat after touring around Mun Island.

PM: Lunch time on boat or on a island restaurant. There seafood lunch will be ready for your hungry belly. Relaxing or doing water sports after lunch such as Jet Ski, parasailing, snorkeling, kayaking, and swimming…. on Con se Tre Islands or Tranh Beach is available for your choice. The boat then transfers you back for a short visit to Tri Nguyen Aquarium around 2.00 pm before being back to the shore. Tour ends at 3.00 pm.

This morning we will say goodbye Nha Trang beach to Dalat romantic city . On the way we will stop to relax on the way with some small waterfalls.

Arrival Dalat check in if the room is available then overnight in Dalat.

This morning we will say goodbye Nha Trang beach to Dalat romantic city . On the way we will stop to relax on the way with some small waterfalls.

Arrival Dalat check in if the room is available then overnight in Dalat.

After breakfast at hotel, we start our trip with visiting the French Quarter with many old-style dimly appears in the pine trees. Continue to Valley of Love is the most romantic place for lovers with many beautiful love-signs, flowers, and pine hills scenery beside the Da Thien lake, well known for its Cowboys, a good place for horse riding. If you love art work, XQ Embroidery village (XQ Historical Village) is a worthy place to see many miraculous hand made embroidery works and find out how they make those fantastic artwork, this is the head and original hand embroidered works of XQ in Vietnam, you will be surprised and admired the charming ladies working here. The tour is finished after we visit the special architecture of Van Hanh Pagoda, with a giant statue of plated Golden Buddist. Domain de Marie convent, a French build convent with remarkable architectural style and garden.

Back to hotel for overnight.

This morning, we take a private transfer to Phan Thiet. Once a part of the Cham Kingdom, it’s now a perfect stop for Vietnam Beach holidays and send to end your Vietnam Holiday, an unremarkable town with a reasonable beach, some decent hotels and a very good golf course. In a nice setting with white sandy beach and coconut trees, the beach resort of Phan Thiet is also endowed with amazing spots such as sand dunes, natural lakes and astonishing red canyons. Phan Thiet still has sizeable populations of Cham and Raglai ethnic minority groups. The former are a part of the area’s Cham heritage.

Upon arrival, check in at the hotel, free time at leisure. Overnight in Phan Thiet/Mui Ne.

Days free to explore the area including the fishing village of Mui Ne which locates at the far end of the beach, the village and several hectares of massive rolling sand dunes make a pleasant diversion from relaxing on the beach, swimming and windsurfing.  The village is worth a visit for three reasons – firstly, very few tourists go further than the dunes, secondly, the small harbour is picturesque (there’s an excellent view from where the dunes road turns off) and thirdly, there’s an interesting pagoda where followers of Vietnam’s whale cult hold services and store skeletons of the massive sea mammals.

Overnight in Phan Thiet/Mui Ne

Free day at leisure and overnight in Phan Thiet/Mui Ne.

In the morning, take your time enjoying breakfast and your last bit of free time.

Then check out of your room for transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City.

On this full-day program, you’ll depart Ho Chi Minh City at 08:00 for a pleasant drive through the countryside to Cu Chi.

Before entering the tunnels you’ll see a short introductory video about their construction. Spend the next hour exploring the tunnel maze. Also on display are various mantraps, the remains of an American tank, and numerous bomb craters created by 500-pound bombs dropped by B52 bombers.

Afterwards, you’ll head back to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving at around 13:00.

In the afternoon your Ho Chi Minh City tour begins with a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old Post Office, fine examples of classical French colonial architecture.

See the Reunification Palace, one of the city’s most important buildings. Here on 30 April 1975 the American War officially ended when tank number 843 of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates of what was at the time the residence of the President of the Republic of Vietnam.

Formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, the War Remnants Museum features poignant displays of the futility of war. The courtyard outside contains the spoils of war, namely rusting jets, tanks, and cannons captured from the American military machine.

Visit the bustling Ben Thanh Market, which is very popular with tourists, primarily due to its central location. It has a wide selection of goods ranging from fake Nike shoes to beautiful silk ao dais, the traditional costume for women.

The tour ends at approximately 18:00 and you’ll be transferred back to your hotel. Note that you have the option of staying on at Ben Thanh Market and making your own way back to the hotel.

Today we will start our exploration of the Mekong Delta, a major rice producing area. This must be one of the most fascinating riverine deltas in the world. The Mekong splits into nine major arteries. A vast network of rivers and waterways with thousands of ships of all sizes plowing the waters gives the Mekong Delta a very special atmosphere and no double one of the most favorite destinations for Vietnam Tours. On arrival, we will make a boat trip to the Cai Be floating Market, visit villages and meet the people of the Mekong Delta. Continue your boat trip to An Binh Island for Lunch in a local family and take a rowing boat trip to the small channel in the afternoon before getting to Can Tho – the heart of Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

Check in on your arrival, free at leisure and overnight in a Can Tho hotel.

In the morning, we make the boat cruise to see the Cai Rang floating market (the nicest one with heaps of rowing boats), truly highlights of any Vietnam Tours where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals and later, you will roam through the village to visit a rice husking mill, a rice noodles making shop which are nice chances to discover the daily life of Vietnamese people in Mekong Delta.

Around noon, transfer back to Ho Chi Minh for overnight.

Free until we transfer you to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh and connect with your departure flight. We hope that you have enjoyed your time with us and look forward to welcoming your next Vietnam Tours. Vivutravel says goodbye and see you again!!!