Tour Overview
This journey is the kind that hooks you fast. You land in Hanoi and ease in with a proper welcome dinner, then dive straight into the city’s soul – from historic icons and hidden courtyards to a cyclo ride through the chaotic charm of the Old Quarter and a classic water puppet show. You’ll slow things down in Mai Chau, sleeping in a traditional stilt house, walking through Thai villages, and sharing dinner with local families. Then it’s pure wow in Halong Bay: limestone karsts, kayaking, sunset drinks on deck, and waking up to misty seascapes. Cultural, immersive, and perfectly paced – hard not to book.
Tour Highlights
- Explore the vibrant city of Hanoi, visiting historical sites like the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, and Museum of Ethnology.
- Witness a traditional Water Puppet show, a unique Vietnamese art form.
- Experience the natural beauty of Mai Chau with a homestay in a Thai ethnic village.
- Embark on an enchanting cruise through the UNESCO-listed Halong Bay.
General Information
Duration:7 Days / 6 Nights
Tour Type: Full board package
Start/End: Hanoi / Hanoi
Destinations Covered
- Hanoi
- Mai Chau
- Halong Bay
What’s Included
- English-speaking guides
- Accommodations (twin share)
- Meals as per itinerary
- Transfers and transport
- Entrance fees and permits
- Cruise night
Why You’ll Love This Trip?
Old Quarter by Cyclo, Not by Bus
Rolling through Hanoi’s 36 streets on a cyclo drops you straight into daily street life – chaotic, loud, alive. It’s slow travel in the best way, where you actually see the city instead of just passing through it.
Sleep in a Thai Stilt House, Dance with the Locals
Mai Chau isn’t a drive-by stop. You stay overnight in a traditional stilt house, share home-style meals, and watch (or join) Thai folk dances – authentic, intimate, and refreshingly unpolished.
Vietnam’s Cultural DNA in One Afternoon
The Ethnology Museum isn’t just a museum – it’s a crash course in Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups, complete with full-scale traditional houses you can walk through. You leave understanding the country, not just visiting it.
Halong Bay from the Water, Not the Crowd
Overnight cruising means kayaking quiet corners of the bay, sunset drinks on deck, and waking up to limestone karsts in mist – the version of Halong most day-trippers never get.
From Capital Buzz to Mountain Calm in One Journey
This itinerary nails contrast: Hanoi’s political heart, rural Mai Chau’s slow rhythm, then drifting through Halong Bay’s seascape. It feels like three different Vietnam experiences without rushing.
Detailed Itinerary
Transfer via: International flight – your own arrangement
Up on arrival in Hanoi, we will be welcomed at the airport and transferred to our hotel in Hanoi city center..
We are relax in the rest of the day; then go to a fine local restaurant in town for our Welcome Dinner in the evening. Overnight in Hanoi.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- Hanoi Sky Hotel
🍽️ Meals
- Dinner
Visited sites: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, One Pillar Pagoda, The Temple of Literature, Museum of Ethnology
Special activities: Cyclo around the Old Quarter & Water puppet show.
AM: Start to be picked up at the hotel at 08:30AM; we enjoy the city by the first visit to Ho Chi Minh Complex, where we will spend a couple of hour to visit: Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum ;his former House on stilt Residence, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh museum and One pillar pagoda. Keep going to see the Temple of Literature: originally built as a temple to Confucius, this is the site of Vietnam’s first university dating back to 1070.
Inside are the stone stele mounted on the backs of turtles, inscribed with the names of the university’s graduates. The complex is divided into five courtyards with different paths that would originally have been reserved for the Emperor and his mandarins. One of the courtyards contains the statue of Confucius guarded by two beautiful bronze storks standing on turtles. The temple highlights the importance that Vietnamese society placed then and now on education.
Lunch will be at a fine local restaurant in Hanoi.
PM: After lunch, we get on our van for a drive out of the city center to visit one of the most interesting museums in Vietnam; Museum of Ethnology, which is widely acknowledged as the best in the country and has an extensive display dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic minority peoples. As well as the comprehensive array of exhibits inside, there are also traditional tribal houses reconstructed within the grounds.
Following by that we will wander around the city by car to see the real life of Hanoian as well as the difference parts the city. After that we will take one-hour cyclo around the Old Quarter, known as the 36 streets, this bustling area of narrow streets is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. Originally, each of the 36 streets names’ was related to the products being sold there. Lastly we enjoy 1-hour water puppet show before getting back to the hotel.
Free in the evening & at night.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- Hanoi Sky Hotel
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
- Lunch
We depart Hanoi today at 8 o’clock then drive up to Hoa Binh. After 3,5 hour driving, we arrive at Mai Chau. Having lunch at local restaurant before checking in; then we are relax. In the afternoon, we will visit Soldier Caves, followed by a walk to Thái villages of Pom Coong and Lac. Dinner at the house on stilt then enjoy traditional dance performance. Overnight in Mai Chau.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- House on the stilts of Thai people
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
This morning, we are walk around the village then transfer back to Hanoi for our night stay.
Lunch in Hoa Binh.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- Hanoi Sky Hotel
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
- Lunch
Am: Be picked up at your hotel from 8h00 for 3.5 hour bus ride through the country side of the Red River Delta to Ha Long City. Upon arrival, aboard Halong Phoenix Cruiser, fresh seafood lunch (vegetable menu available) would be served while the boat is gliding out.
Pm: A short tender ride from the middle of the bay to an island for the famous Sung Sot Cave, followed by fun kayaking around the area. As the sun sets over the bay, you are free to swim from the boat or just relax on sundeck with your favorite drink. Dinner is served with typically local seafood. Overnight on board.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- Cruise night at Phoenix Cruiser
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
Rise up for a breath taking on sundeck, be ready with your camera for a stunning vista in the serene bay. We visit an island and relax on its beach, or walk up to the top for the panoramic view of the anchorage area. You learn recipes and techniques that go into the most popular dish of the Vietnamese food on sundeck just before lunch time. Lunch would be served when cruising back to the harbor.
Pm: Our bus is waiting on the harbor to take you back to Hanoi. Trip ends at your hotel around 16h00.
🛌🏻 Accommodation
- Hanoi Sky Hotel
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
- Lunch
Transfer via: International flight – your own arrangement
After breakfast at hotel, we transfer to the airport for our departure flight. Trip ends.
🍽️ Meals
- Breakfast
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