Vietnam Highlight Tour – 14D/13N

Welcome to Ha Noi, Vietnam’s capital city and political center. Meet your guide and driver in a private car, and take you to your hotel in the Old Quarter of Ha Noi. Rest and be ready for a leisure walk in the afternoon; visit Ha Noi’s highlights; the Opera House, Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake, and Ngoc Son Temple. In the evening, join us for a special welcoming dinner at one of the famous in town.

8:00 am leave your hotel. The shuttle drives about 50km from Hanoi to Son Tay. Visit Duong Lam ancient village, a purely agricultural village of the Northern Red River Delta. On arrival, we’ll walk on paths to visit Mong Phu temple, where Vietnamese worshiped national heroes, King Ngo Quyen and King Phung Hung temples. Resume to visit Mia Pagoda – built in 15th century and admire 287 statues of all sizes, next to Mia Pagoda, built in the 15th century to worship Buddha. You can admire 287 beautiful statues of all sizes & artful sculptures, notably the statue of Buddha in the Himalayas and the statues of the Eight Vajra Deities. Then we are heading to the village center where a massive & old communal house stands – the meeting place of locals in essential village events. Walk to the banyan tree, traditional water wells, entrance gate & communal house before returning Ha Noi. Spen the rest of the day walking through Hanoi’s Old Quarter, visit the Ngoc Son Temple, and enjoy views of Hoan Kiem Lake. Back to the hotel, shower, and check out for dinner before the night train to Lao Cai.

The train arrives at the railway station in Lao Cai early morning. Be gre ted by the Vietnam Backroads team. Your guide and driver will take you to the best restaurant in town for a big breakfast and ready for fantastic views on 40 km on the spiral road up to Sapa. There are some stops so that you can admire spectacular mountain scenery. You will reach Sapa town after an hour’s drive from Lao Cai. Sapa is a famous destination in Northwest Vietnam, perfect for adventures, hiking, and mountain biking trips. Check- n, the hotel, and rest until midday to have lunch and get ready with your camera for the cable car from Sapa to Fansipan. This is the opportunity for you to view the homes of tribes with beautiful valleys and the Heaven gate. At the Fansipan, you walk around, admire more sites and immerse yourself in nature at 360 degrees. The ca le car is 6 km, and each turn takes about 15 minutes. Then y you can enjoy breathtaking mountain views as long as you wish, and finally, return cable car station and back to Sapa. Explore the Sapa town on your own in the evening.

Today’s tour is fabulous, and you will have a full-day trek into the home of the H’mong, Dzao, and Dzay tribes, and they still keep their own traditional culture and customs. Your guide knows all routes as local knowledge with various ways with different distances; 3, 5, or 11 km, even more than that, depending on your choices. After breakfast at the hotel, it begins with a short transfer out of Sapa. Enjoy a guided hiking tour to Cat Cat Village, Muong Hoa, Y Linh Ho, and Ta Van villages. Enjoy views of ice terraces, rolling green hills, and dazzling waterfalls in Cat Cat Village. Muong Hoa Valley is home to H’mong Dao and Dzay, which are in colorful customs. Following to Y Linh Ho, and Ta Van villages, you will learn more about the culture and traditions of each tribe. Lunch en route at hill tribe village. Admire the stunning landscapes, rice terraces, tiny thatch & wooden houses in removed hill tribe villages. Then dive to Lao Cai, shower at the hotel in town, and enjoy dinner before boarding the night train back to Ha Noi.

The train arrives at Ha Noi’s railway station in the morning. Meet your guide and driver for a transfer to the city center, and enjoy tea, coffee, and breakfast following activities as planned with 3.5 hours transfer to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is one of many highlights of your vacation through Vietnam’s magical landscape. Ha Long Bay means the dragon descends into the sea. “Legen has it that the gods sent a family of giant dragons to help us. The dr gons spat great blocks of jade, the size of mountains, which formed this barricade of islands and blocked the invasion.” The Bay is listed UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 1994. It’s a fantastic bay with 1,600 limestone islands and islets, and world well-known and attracts a million travelers worldwide. If disappointed, plan a journey to Vietnam without visiting Ha Long Bay. Depart from Ha Noi with 3 hours and a half drive to Ha Long via Hai Phong City. Board the boat and enjoy lunch as the boat cruise into the Bay. The itinerary, combined with swimming, kayaking, and stopping at some main highlights; fishing villages, hidden caves, and seafood farms, give you a chance for endless photos, fresh seafood on board, enjoy Vietnamese coffee, relaxing on the sun deck, and watch sunset.

Enjoy Sunrise with coffee, tea, and breakfast on board, and then you have a bamboo rowing boat trip that takes us to Vung Vieng floating fishing village. We are also visiting Pearl Farm to see how natural pearls are created. Then we return to the cruise for your leisure or join one of the following optional activities: Sunbathing, traditional massage, etc. Your l nch is on board while the cruise returns to the harbor around 11:45 am. Have a private transfer Ha Noi airport through Red River Delta. Get on board of internal flight to Hue. Be welcomed at Noi Bai Aiport and you will be transferred to the hotel to check-in.

The former capital of Vietnam was Feudalism, and ended in 1945. The royal residences and purple citadel were damaged during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Today, Hue City and it’s countryside are the hidden charms of it’s old and new. Explore Hue at Purple Citadel, the palace of last Vietnam’s King. The next visit is the seven-story Thien Mu pagoda, the unofficial symbol of Hue City. Continue your trip to the Khai Dinh’s tomb with a beautiful mixture of Western and Eastern architectural styles. You will have a chance to visit some workshops run by families making conical hats, incense sticks, and other unique handicrafts before returning to Hue and ending your today’s tour at the colorful Dong Ba Market.

Hoi An, where you travel to and stay 2 nights, was a famous South East Asia Trading Port from the 15th and 19 centuries. There ere plenty of foreign traders from China, India, Japan, France, and many others from Europe who came to Hoi An to trade. The architectural structures of houses, villas, buildings, and streets reflect a blend of Oriental and Western. Depart at 8:00 am, travel on the beautiful coast, passes through tiny fishing villages, colorful cemeteries, old pagodas, and lakes, and then alongside the lagoon. Before reaching Hai Van Pass, many stops will be at small fishing villages, colorful pagodas, and local markets. This i an opportunity for endless photos, views of mountain landscapes, and the stunning Bay of Da Nang. You will visit the Cham Museum, which displays all the valued collections of Cham sculptures. Then t Marble Mountain and handicraft villages before driving to Hoi An. Check-in, the hotel. The rest of the day is your pleasure.

After breakfast, be picked up at your hotel to transfer to Hai Cafe for a brief introduction by your chef cook about your half-day cooking class. Then take a walk to the colorful central market with your chef, and experience the fantastic sights, sounds, and aromas. You can interact with the local sellers and select fresh produce and ingredients essential for Vietnamese cuisine. We board the Red Bridge boat for a 25-minute cruise along the Hoi An River to the Red Bridge Cooking School. This is a chance to see local river life, and your camera should be ready for endless photos along the river bank. On arr val, we explore the cooking school’s herb garden before learning about some of Hoi An’s and Vietnam’s well-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about 2 hours – the Red Bridge chefs first demonstrate each dish before preparing the same dish ourselves. Includ d in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration). Take a seat, and enjoy the lunch that you have cooked. Finally, return to your hotel by car, explore, go shopping, or perhaps visit a local tailor to get a custom suit or dress made.

Enjoy breakfast and check out for a leisurely transfer to Da Nang to board an internal flight to Ho Chi Minh- Formerly known as Saigon, The “Pearl of the Far East” as an important trading centre in Southeast Asia. However, it’s the country’s largest city with a bustling economic hub of the South. On arr val at Tan Son Nhat Airport, you are welcome, and a private transfer will greet you and transfer you to the hotel for check-in. Enjoy lunch in a famous restaurant in the city center before taking a walking tour to explore the city center. First, you visit the War Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, and then to Central Post Office. Then, you walk down to Dong Khoi St, pass by the Opera House and Town Hall, and stop at Fine Art Galleries- photo gallery Couleurs d’Asie by Rehahn – the famous French photographer. Then you go back to the hotel for the rest.

Depart from your hotel at 8:30 am with a few hours’ drive Northwest of Ho Chi Minh to Tay Ninh. In the morning, visit the incredible Cao Dai Temple, and attend the holy noon mass. In the afternoon, explore the unbelievable tunnels of more than 250 km. Arrive at the Cao Dai Temple around 11: 20 am. You have so much time for photos endless and walk around compounds to more things before the noon mass. Cao Dao is an indigenous religion encompassing Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Taoism. Religious followers hold several holy documents and must wear a long dress at noon to pray. This belief practice began in 1921 when a man received a vision of the Divine Eye, a powerful symbol of Cao Daism. Most followers are white at noon mass, and the pope, archbishop, cardinal, and priest are colorful. After the noon mass, you continue traveling through the compound and make some stops, visiting more sites before your lunch at the best restaurant in town. 

A private transfer takes you through lush farmlands, idyllic villages, and rubber plantations to Ben Duoc tunnels. The Head Quarter is also the command center of over 250 km of underground network tunnels. The tu nels of Cu Chi are an extensive network used for hiding and fighting during combat and served as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches, and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tu nel systems were important to the Viet Cong in their resistance to enemy forces and helped counter the growing American military effort. Arrive at the Be Dinh tunnels around 3:00 am, watch a documentary film, then explore the renowned fighting tunnels on foot, traps, bunkers, and trenches and experience crawling a piece of the underground tunnels. Then return to Saigon by vehicle in the late afternoon.

The Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam is a vast maze of rivers, swamps, and islands, home to floating markets, Khmer pagodas, and rice paddies. With fresh water all year round and rich fertile soils, the Mekong Delta has been called the rice bowl of Vietnam. 

Commence the journey to Mekong Delta with 2 hour’s drive on the freeway from Saigon to Cai Be. Arrive around 10:00 am, board a wooden sampan boat, cruise along the Mekong River, visit family workshops making local snacks and handicrafts, and pass the small Cai Be floating market before crossing the Mekong River to Binh Hoa Phuoc village. Keep o cruising on a small branch to the home of locals, where your lunch is delicious and home-cooked. Take a walk to fruit orchards and visit one of the beautiful ancient houses on An Binh island. Taste some seasonal fruits, and listen to Mekong folk music performed by locals. Return to the boat and continue your cruise on peaceful channels until the lively Dong Phu canals are reached. Dong Phu canals are artificial to make a shortcut for waterways instead of a way loop An Binh island. It’s b sy, and this is a chance you experience life on rivers. Then your boat escapes from the island to reach Vinh Long town. Say goodbye to your boatman before a transfer to Can Tho city.

An early morning start with a motorboat ride on the lively Can Tho River to the floating market. The boat ride is exceptional; pass many houses on stilts, land markets by the river, floating petro stations, and timber factories alongside. This is a great time to see the market on trading. Small boats are moving around bigger anchored boats, trying to find a good deal. The items for sale are hung on bamboo sticks, so the buyers and sellers quickly find business partners. Others are tiny sampans that sell breakfast, ride noodle soups, steamed rice with porks, sweet soup, coffee boats, etc. The items and farm products on the market depend on the time of year. Afterward, continue your boat ride onto the small branches of the Can Tho River, explore the rural villages, and experience local life on canals. Visit some homes of the locals and the homemade rice noodle workshops. Learn how to make traditional rice noodles, enjoy crispy “rice noodle pizza before returning to the hotel, and check out at 11:00 am for 3.5 hours driving back to Saigon. Lunch en route.

Today is your return home. After a leisurely breakfast, spend the rest shopping on Dong Khoi St, Ben Thanh Market, and relaxing until a pick up for transfer to the International Airport to fly home. Tour End!