Authentic Vietnam tour – 16 days

On arrival at Noi Bai international airport, welcome by our guide and driver, transferred to your hotel in the city center. Leisure time for relaxing after your flight. Stay overnight at your hotel in Ha Noi City.

After breakfast at the hotel. Enjoy a full day in Ha Noi.

Visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh's house on stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda. Next head to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university (Almost 1000 years old). Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, visit the Museum of Ethnology, Hoan Kiem lake, Ngoc Son temple and enjoy a 1 hour cyclo tour of the old quarter of Hanoi with its busy streets full of shops offering bargains. Dinner at your expense. After dinner you will be transferred to the train station for departure to Sapa on the night train. Stay overnight in an air-conditioned soft sleeper cabin.

Arrive at Lao Cai station at around 6:00am. Transfer from Lao Cai Station to Sapa. Enjoy breakfast and start our trek downhill to Y Linh Ho village in the Muong Hoa Valley. Stroll through rice paddies and small hamlets to witness the lifestyle of hill tribes in the area. Time to speak to local people in Lao Chai village. Continue roaming through villages and rice terraced fields to Ta Van village, home of Dzay ethnic people. Enjoy a picnic lunch along the way and continue on to the base of Sapa valley which is well known to be the most beautiful valley in the area. Head back to Sapa in the afternoon. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Sapa.

Breakfast at the hotel. Start a downhill trek to Cat Cat village, home of the Black H'Mong tribe. Enjoy a nice waterfall in Cat Cat village and beautiful scenery along the way. You will be taken by Jeep back to Sapa. Check out of the hotel. Have lunch at the local restaurant. After lunch, go by car to a village to visit the home of the Red Dao people, stroll around the village to explore the customs, daily life and weaving techniques of the Red Dao people. Transfer to Lao Cai for an overnight train back to Ha Noi. Stay overnight in an air-conditioned soft sleeper cabin.

Arrive Hanoi in the early morning, pick up and transfer to the hotel in the old quarter for shower and breakfast. Pick up from your hotel in Hanoi. Drive to Halong City through paddy fields in the Red River Delta. Stopover on the way for a refreshment break. Board the Junk and enjoy a welcome drink on arrival, check in to your cabin. Enjoy a sea seafood lunch served on board. Cruise on the Bay and enjoy beautiful views of this world natural heritage site with limestone cliffs growing up from the green tranquil water. See Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Dog Island and Sail Island. Visit the Vung Vieng fishing village by local rowing boat (01 hour) or Kayak into the village then return to the vessel for your leisure or join one of the following optional activities: Sunbathing, traditional massage, swimming etc Have dinner and relax in the quiet and calm of the Bay. Overnight on board.

6:00 - 09.00: Taking part in Tai Chi class on the sundeck (duration about 30 minutes)

Coffee, tea and pastries… for breakfast are served in the dining room with morning view of bay’s landscape.
Transfer by tender to Sung Sot Cave. Walk up about 100 steps to the cave entrance. It takes approximately 45 minutes for cave visiting. Return to the boat by tender.

9:00 - 11:30 Check out

Have a set menu brunch while cruising back to the Tuan Chau Wharf. Relax on the sundeck or in the dining room enjoying the bay scenery as approaching the wharf.

11:30am Transfer by tender to Tuan Chau Wharf. Say goodbye to the crew. Back to Ha Noi. Transfer to Noi Bai airport to board flight VN 1545 to Hue (20.10-21.20pm). You will be picked up and transferred to your hotel. Dinner on guests account. Stay overnight at your hotel in Hue City.

After breakfast at your hotel, enjoy a morning boat trip on the Perfume River. Visit the royal tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, Thien Mu pagoda and the mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang, set in gardens and lakes. In the afternoon, visit Dong Ba market and the Imperial Citadel from where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945, and the ruins of the Purple Forbidden City. Enjoy a night boat trip on the Perfume River, highlighted by a performance of Hue folk music. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Hue city.

Have breakfast at your hotel before departing for Hoi An. Stop for photo opportunities and sightseeing at Hai Van pass, Lang Co beach and Marble mountain. Lunch at the local restaurant. In the afternoon, roam around town and visit the Japanese Covered Bridge, a Pottery Museum, Old House of Tan Ky, the Cantonese congregation, silk street of Hoi An and Danang-style temples and pagodas. Dinner at your expense. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Hoi An.

After breakfast at the hotel, depart for My Son to visit the Cham Holy land (World Heritage listed). Spend over an hour driving to My Son, a World Heritage. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. My Son, considered to be in the same league as some of Southeast Asia's greatest archaeological sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar, Ayutthaya inThailand and Borobudur in Indonesia. These towers and sanctuaries was built from the 7 to 13 centuries.  Return to Hoi An. Have lunch at the local restaurant, leisure time in the afternoon for your own activites. Dinner on guest’s account. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Hoi An.

Breakfast at the hotel. Free for shopping in Hoi An. Depart for Danang to visit the Cham Museum, home to Vietnam's largest collection of Cham treasures. Lunch at a local restaurant before transferring to Danang airport for boarding flight No VN 337 to Nha Trang (14:10 - 15:30). Pick up at Cam Ranh airport and transfer to hotel. At leisure in the afternoon. Overnight at your chosen hotel in Nha Trang.

Breakfast at the hotel. Take the morning boat trip to visit the Tri Nguyen Aquarium and the off-shore islands around Nha Trang, including Mun Mot Island. Enjoy swimming and beach activities. Lunch at Hon Tam Island with fresh seafood. Return to Nha Trang. Dinner on guest’s account. Overnight at your chosen hotel in Nha Trang.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Cam Ranh airport for boarding flight No 451 to Ho Chi Minh City (8:15 - 9: 30). Pick up and transfer to hotel. On arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, you will be picked up and transferred to your hotel. Take a sightseeing tour to Reunification Palace, which was the former residence of the until the end of April 1975. Visit some fantastic French colonial structures including the Notre Dame cathedral and the Old Central Post Office. Lunch at the local restaurant. Next, head to town and visit Thien Hau & Quan Am pagodas. After seeing the Emperor Jade Pagoda and the War Remnants Museum we end the city tour with a trip to Ben Thanh markets, where anything and everything is up for sale. Dinner on guest’s account. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Ho Chi Minh City.

After  breakfast  at  your  hotel,  head  west  to Cao Dai  Headquarters. On  arrival,  attend the  fantastic mid-day  temple  service  where  followers  fill  the  hall  wearing  colorful  robes,  a  symbol  of  the  curious combination  of  Confucianism,  Taoism  and  Buddhism.  Lunch  at  the  local  restaurant.  On  the  way  back, visit Cu Chi Tunnels, an underground network of tunnels constructed by Vietnamese fighters during the struggle  for  independence.  The  tunnels  contained  hospitals,  accommodation,  etc.  and  were  used  as  a military  base  for  the  Vietcong  during  the  American  war.  Return  to  Ho  Chi  Minh  City.  Dinner  on  guest’s account. Stay overnight at your hotel of choice in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for My Tho. Take a leisurely boat ride through the Bao Dinh natural canal which is bordered by rows of traditional stilt houses and fruit plantations. Visit the My Tho wholesale fruit market. Proceed to Tortoise Island. Lunch served in the heart of the orchard. Enjoy a boat ride through the Tan Thach natural canal in Ben Tre, cruising under the shadows of the water coconut trees. Visit a family business which epitomizes the idyllic rural lifestyle. After trekking through the fruit plantation on Thoi Son Island, enjoy a rowing boat ride along the creeks before returning to My Tho by motor boat. Proceed to Can Tho. Dinner on guest's account. Overnight at your chosen hotel in Can Tho.

Taking very early morning boat trip (5:30am usually recommended) to visit the Cai Rang floating market which is wholesale market of fruit and vegetable at its busiest at this time of the day. Keep cruising through the small channels system and visit a rice noodle making village. Experience the “Monkey Bridge” in the Delta. Head to Phong Dien for the smaller, quieter floating market (optional). Break for lunch. Return to Ho Chi Minh City.

Breakfast at the hotel. Free for your own activities until transfer to Tan Son Nhat airport for departure. End of services. Finish your Authentic Vietnam tour.