General Information
Duration: 15 Days
Tour Type: School holiday
Starts / Ends: Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh City
Tour Route: Hanoi – Halong Bay – Cat ba Island – Danang – Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnel – Mekong Delta
Dates: No fixed departure dates. You may go whenever you wish.
Activity Level: Regular Itinerary
Group Size: From 10 students on ward
Tour Customizable: Absolutely! (Tell us your specific requirements in the inquiry form).
Brief Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Hanoi
Day 2: Hanoi – City tour
Day 3: Hanoi – Cycling in outskirt
Day 4: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay (overnight on junk)
Day 5: Ha Long Bay – Hanoi – Night train to Hue
Day 6: Hue – city tour
Day 7: Hue – Cycling outskirt
Day 8: Hue – Transfer to Hoi An
Day 9: Hoi An
Day 10: Hoi An – Cooking class
Day 11: Hoi An – Da Nang – Fly to Saigon
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi tunnel
Day 13: Mekong Delta
Day 14: City tour – Dam Sen theme park
Day 15: Departure
Special Experiences:
Experience the interesting of colonial city of Hanoi with water puppet show and cyclo tour
Deluxe Junk Cruise and over night on Halong Bay for spectacular landscapes and caves visiting and activities like; swimming, kayaking…
Experience the Cat Ba national park with a short trek
Soft cycling tour in the outskirt of Hue
Walking tour in charming town of Hoi An and cooking class
Mekong Delta waterway
Legendary Cu Chi Tunnel Experiences
Dam Sen Theme Park
Bustle & Hustle Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) with War historical Places
Day 1: Arrival Hanoi (D)
Transfer via: International flight – your arrangement
Welcome upon arrival in Hanoi by local tour guide and driver, we transfer to the hotel. Relax in the rest of the day. Tonight, we meet tour guide again for our welcome dinner at a fine local restaurant in town. Overnight in Hanoi.
Accommodation: Hanoi Sky hotel – 3 stars
Day 2: Hanoi – City tour (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, One Pillar Pagoda, The Presidential Palace, The Temple of Literature, Museum, Water puppet show, Hanoi Old Quarter with cyclo tour.
After breakfast at the hotel, we drive to Ho Chi Minh Complex, where we will spend a couple of hours to visit: Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, his former stilt-house residence, the Presidential Palace, the 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. The temple highlights the importance that Vietnamese society placed then and now on education. Lunch will be at a fine local restaurant in Hanoi. In the afternoon, we will 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 people. Following that, we will wander around the city by car to see the real-life of Hanoian as well as the different parts of the city.
After that; we get back to the city center where we 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. Before we go back to the hotel, we will have the chance to enjoy the unique Water Puppet show to hear to know Vietnamese traditional instruments and singing from the live musicians who play throughout the show. The trip will be finished after the show at the hotel in the late afternoon.
Option visited Museums:
1. Hanoi Hilton or Hoa Lo Prison
2. National Museum of Vietnamese History
3. Vietnam Military History museum
4. Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts
5. Vietnam People’s Air Force Museum, Hanoi
Accommodation: Hanoi Sky hotel – 3 stars
Day 3: Hanoi – cycling in outskirt (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Duong Lam ancient village
Today we travel to the west of Hanoi to ancient Duong Lam village where has a history of 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years. One impressive thing about the village is that most of the buildings here are made of laterite and mud, two materials that are abundant in the area. Laterite is used on house walls, gates, walls, and so forth and the mud is taken from ponds. It will be our unique experience as we walk along tiny ancient alleys. After 2 hour driving, we arrive in Duong Lam village, visit Mong Phu temple, the only hamlet whose original village entrance gate remains intact. We also have some talks with the locals in their ancient houses where our lunch will be provided.
After lunch, we take the bike and start cycling to the Mia Pagoda (other hamlets in Duong Lam village). The pagoda is built in the 15th century containing 287 statues of different sizes. Then we bike to Ngo Quyen temple and Phung Hung temple. These are two places are dedicated to Ngo Quyen and Phung Hung, the two National Heroes of Vietnam. We cycle back to Duong Lam village and return to our hotel in Hanoi.
Accommodation: Hanoi Sky hotel – 3 stars
Day 4: Hanoi – Halong Bay (overnight on junk) (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Halong Bay, Sung Sot cave
Meeting tour guide and driver after breakfast, we transfer to Halong Bay. It takes us around 3,5 hour driving along the Red River Delta, we arrive at Wharf in the middle of the day. Taking the tender to our big junk then we are welcome by the crew team.
Our seafood lunch will be served at 13:00 while the boat is peacefully passing Burn of Incense islet, Dog Islet, Fighting cock islets and Halong Fishing village.
We finish our lunchtimes the junk stop at Sung Sot cave where we will have 1-hour walk up and explore one of the most magical and beautiful Sung Sot (Amazing) cave. After that, we are back to the junk and start kayaking, trekking or swimming at Titov Island area. It is really wonderful to be at the bay at the sunset time and we can see different Halong time by time….
Finish our interesting day by tasteful seafood dinner. We enjoy our meal in a floating restaurant and see the “city bay” in the evening. We will enjoy the film or relax if the request for the rest of the night.
Accommodation: Halong Sails or equivalent
Day 5: Halong Bay – Hanoi – Night train to Hue (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Halong Bay
Getting up early morning we will have the chance to see the sunrise on the sundeck with some hot coffee or tea. Then we enjoy our breakfast at the restaurant. A small boat will transfer us to Luon Cave to visit a smaller lake in a big bay. Here we can see many natural monkey’s families fed by bread and food from tourists. We are back to the Halong Sails to visit more Halong Bay with Man Head islets, Tortoise Island. We will check out the cabin at around 09:00 then relax on sundeck or restaurant until lunchtime. We may have our lunch on the boat or delicious Cua Vang restaurant in Halong city.
We transfer back to Hanoi in the afternoon. Tonight we take our night train to Hue. Overnight on train.
Accommodation: Vietnam Express train – 4 sleeper berth cabin with A/C
Day 6: Hue – City tour (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Imperial city, Dong Ba market
Arriving at Hue in the morning, we have our breakfast at a local restaurant. Then we visit the Imperial city, Forbidden Purple City, Dong Ba market.
In the afternoon, we are relaxing at the hotel. Dinner will be served at a fine local restaurant in town. Overnight in Hue.
Accommodation: Green Hue Hotel – 4 stars
Day 7: Hue – cycling outskirt (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Tu Duc Tomb, Khai Dinh Tomb, Thanh Toan village
In the morning we will visit the former imperial capital of Vietnam. We will visit the elaborate tombs of emperors Tu Duc & Khai Dinh. This guided tour gives you a deep understanding of King’s philosophy of geomancy and how this affected royal life. We go back to Hue city for lunch in an Italian Restaurant.
In the afternoon we take a bicycle riding through the lush rice paddy fields to the Thanh Toan Village, located eight kilometers away. The village shelters a covered bridge dating back more than two centuries offered to the villagers by the wife of a high ranking Mandarin. Continue along the river with its banks dotted with temples & pagodas. At the edge of the river banks, the mothers wash their linen while their children are biking back home from school, many who will be astonished to see Westerners lost in this corner of the countryside.
Accommodation: Green Hue hotel – 4 stars.
Day 8: Hue – transfer to Hoi An (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Hai Van Pass, Cham Museum, Marble Mountain
After breakfast, we depart Hue for Hoi An travel through the high pass of Hai Van with its spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean en route to Danang. We will visit Cham Museum, Marble Mountain. Relax in the rest of the day in Hoi An.
Accommodation: River Beach resort and Residence Hoi An – 4 stars
Day 9: Hoi An (B)
Sites visited: Hoi An town
In the morning we will do the walking tour in Hoi An town, This quaint riverside town still boasts a wealth of century’s old traditional architecture. The influences of several Asian cultures can be seen in old houses and waterside buildings. It is also famous as a place to be instantly created inexpensive tailored outfits.
Accommodation: River Beach resort and Residence Hoi An – 4 stars
Day 10: Hoi An – Cooking Class (B, L, D)
Activities: Cooking class
Our day starts (8.30am) with a welcome drink at our meeting point – Morning Glory Restaurant (106 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hoi An).
We visit Hoi An’s colorful and bustling market where participants learn about the uses of different fresh noodles, how to recognize and buy fresh fish, herbs and their uses in Vietnam, fresh and dried spices – their uses in our recipes and medicinal purposes, rice and grains, see and taste exotic fruits.
On our arrival at The Market Restaurant, we have a chance to freshen up. We then tour the many Street Food counters, seeing live cooking demonstrations whilst sipping on a refreshing drink.
The cooking lesson runs about 2 hours – our cooking teachers first demonstrate each dish before we prepare the same dishes ourselves. After the lesson, we sit down and eat what we have cooked. You will receive a copy of the recipes and a Vietnamese cooking utensil to take home.
Recipes: (Vegetarians are provided with replacement ingredients).
1. Cabbage leaf parcels shrimp mousse in broth
2. BBQ chicken & lime leaves
3. Mango salad with prawns
4. Crispy Hoi An Pancakes with pork, prawns & bean sprouts
Accommodation: River Beach resort and Residence Hoi An – 4 stars
Day 11: Hoi An – Danang – Fly to Saigon (B, D)
Transfer via: Vietnam Airlines
Today we will transfer to Danang to take the flight to Ho Chi Minh City in the early afternoon, after a short flight, we will be transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day, we are at leisure. Dinner at a local restaurant in town.
Accommodation: Sapphire hotel – 3 stars
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi tunnel (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Cu Chi Tunnel, War Remnant Museum, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Post Office
In the morning we will leave Ho Chi Minh city for the Cu Chi tunnels, otherwise known as the “Iron Triangle” or “Iron Land”. On our way there we will drive through pleasant countryside; rubber plantations and rice paddies. Before entering the tunnels, we will see a short introductory video showing how they were constructed, followed by an exploration of the maze of tunnels, some of which have been widened to allow tourist access. Also on display are various mantraps and the remains of an American tank, as well as numerous bomb craters made by 500lb bombs, dropped by B52 bombers. After that, we transfer back to Ho Chi Minh city for lunch at KFC restaurant.
After lunch, we visit the Reunification Palace, the former Presidential Palace for the president of the South of Vietnam. After that, we will visit the War Remnant Museum, where we can see countless artifacts, photographs, and pictures documenting the second Indochina war. We also stop at Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Post office to get good shots for our memory of the big, modern city of Vietnam.
In the rest of the day, we will visit: Ben Thanh market, and then we will be back to the hotel at around 18:00. Dinner and overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.
Accommodation: Sapphire hotel – 3 stars
Day 13: Mekong Delta (B, L, D)
Sites visited: My Tho, Mekong Delta
At 08.00 we leave Saigon behind and head to Vietnam’s rice basket, the Mekong Delta. We will pass through idyllic, rural scenes until we arrive at My Tho, a peaceful town on the bank of the Mekong River, where we will visit the Vinh Trang Pagoda. Next, we will have a boat ride on the Mekong, visit local homes and orchards, a coconut candy workshop, a honeybee farm, take a sampan ride on palm-shaded creeks, try a taste of seasonal fruit and honey tea and enjoy a performance of traditional Southern singing. We return to the city and enjoy our dinner at a fine local restaurant. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.
Accommodation: Sapphire hotel – 3 stars
Day 14: Dam Sen Theme Park (B, L, D)
Sites visited: Dam Sen Theme ParkToday, students will have a full day in Dam Sen Theme Park. Dam Sen is an excellent relaxing place for all ages. Especially, teenagers are the most popular patrons attracted by a variety of amusement and shows such as Roller Coaster, Winding Fall, Magic Flying Carpet, the Virtual World, Swinging Height… DS always makes every effort to ensure that its patrons would be offered the most up-to-date entertainments. In the evening, students will have a Farewell dinner at a restaurant.
Accommodation: Sapphire hotel – 3 stars
Day 15: Departure (B)
Transfer via: International flight – your arrangement
Today we have free time at our leisure be for transfer to the airport for our departure flight home.
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