Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh – Overview

Welcome to Hanoi, the capital city with a lively Old Quarter of 36 narrow streets. Vietnam Backroads Team will meet you outside the Noi Bai Airport terminal gate and transfer you to your hotel in the city center. Spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Enjoy a full day exploring the vibrant colonial city of Ha Noi, and discover some of the city’s main highlights; visit the Temple of Literature, built in 1076, Vietnam’s first university Quoc Tu Giam; the university functioned for an incredible 700 years, and its gardens and well-preserved architecture offer a fascinating glimpse into Vietnam’s past. Then travel to the West Lake and the sixth-century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. Walk along the lakeside to the Taoist temple of Quan Thanh, dedicated to Tran Vu, one of the principal deities in Taoism. Next to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (closed Mondays), where the displays highlight Vietnam’s cultural diversity and educate on the significant role Vietnamese women play in Vietnamese society and much more about the crafts, traditional costumes, musical instruments, life-size reproductions of village community houses, folklore, and traditional customs of the 54 ethnicities. In the afternoon, visit the One Pillar Pagoda, founded by King Ly Thai To in 1049, next. This structure is one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples close by is the mausoleum of the historic father figure of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and the former President’s house on stilts, where he lived from 1958 to 1969. (Mausoleum closed Mon and Fri and from Jun – Aug) the rest of the day is to stroll the bustling Old Quarter, known as the 36 Streets were named after the products. Walk on narrow streets and alleys, home to many small businesses and shopkeepers. Finish the day with a Water Puppet show.

After a leisurely breakfast, we’ll transfer 2. 5 hours through the countryside of northern Vietnam to Ninh Binh Province — one of the most beautiful parts of Vietnam with its incredible scenery, historical

temples and limestone karst mountains surrounding the rice fields and the calm river, given the name of the “Halong in the land.” 

On arrival, explore Tho Ha village, rustic countryside, and enjoy the kart lime mountain scenery through the farmlands of Dong Tam, where locals catch crabs, fish, transplant, water vegetables, and more. After lunch:

• Take Sampan for a 1.5-hour boat trip cruising over a small canal among the paddy fields for 1km.
• Stroll along the winding rocky path of the foot for 200m and go up 20 steps to reach the Thien Ha – Galaxy Grotto.
• Admire the spectacular stalactites above the cave ceiling. 

Before returning on the same route, continue to discover But Hien cave and be attracted by many natural sparkling stalactites with shapes and figures. We’ll return to Hanoi in the late afternoon.

Ha Long Bay is the world’s most natural beauty, with thousands of rock mountain islands jutting out of the emerald sea and sculpting into bizarre shapes. Explore Ha Long Bay for two days and overnight on the cruise is the best way to enjoy this Vietnamese must-see. The journey begins after a 4-hour drive from Ha Noi, including a coffee break/ rest stop. After a welcome onboard, lunch will be served as the cruise sails through the bay. Following activities are swimming, kayaking, and stopping at some main highlights; fishing villages, hidden caves, and seafood farms. This is your endless photo opportunities during the trip. Dinner is served on board

Enjoy Sunrise, taste 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 lunch is on board while the cruise returns to the harbor around 11:45 am. Have a private transfer Ha Noi Airport Board on the internal flight. After the short flight, arrive at the central port city of Danang, and transfer 40 minutes to Hoi An.

Spend a half-day biking to explore Tra Que village, where locals grow plenty of vegetables and herbs. The routes are small paths through old hamlets and lush farmlands for a chance to interact with local people. Enjoy cycling leisurely through the rice fields and vegetable farms, and enjoy views of the authentic countryside. Have a specialty lunch before finishing the half day at the hotel. The rest of the day is to explore Hoi An ancient town alone.

Depart 8:30, drive on the coastal road to Da Nang, and visit the Cham Museum, which contains the world’s finest collection of Cham sculptures. Then continue going over the Pass of Ocean Clouds and dropping down to the wonderfully photogenic fishing village of Lang Co, and break for lunch restaurant by the beach. Following lunch, drive 1.5 hours to Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Its mesmerizing tombs and mausoleums of the last emperors of Vietnam reveal fascinating insights into the lives of the imperial families and their subjects. Visit Minh Mang Mausoleum, inspired by Chinese Confucianism, a harmonious design of balance and symmetry for the Emperor’s resting place. Listed as a UNESCO Heritage site, Minh Mang is Hue’s most impressive tourist attraction.

This morning at 08:30 depart the hotel, and explore the Imperial Citadel where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945. From here take a cyclo through Dai Noi‘ Old City’ visit Tran Dinh Son private museum with a collection of everyday items, the past Kings have used, and learn how royal descendants are keeping the family’s traditions alive today. Then travel to Khai Dinh Tomb, about 10 kilometers away from the heart of Hue, was the final architectural work of the Nguyen Dynasty. It is a perfect combination of Asian and European styles, classical and modern, which still exist today. Lunch at a local restaurant for authentic Hue-style cuisine. Following lunch, you take a dragon boat ride on the Perfume River to Hon Chen Temple – a place for worshipping Goddess Thien Y A Na (known as a religion of Cham people). It is in a shape of a downward-facing cup on the bank of the Perfume River. This temple houses many rare and attractive objects handed down from the past. Resume boat ride to visit Thien Mu (Celestial Lady) Pagoda overlooking the Perfume River; constructed in 1601, the 21-meter tall tower is the pagoda’s centerpiece and represents seven Buddha reincarnations. Return to the hotel by vehicle.

After breakfast, transfer to Hue Airport for the short flight to dynamic Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals. You are welcomed by a local guide and tour in Ho Chi Minh City for a half-day. Visit Reunification Hall, formerly called the Presidential Palace; images of the building were seen worldwide on 30 April 1975 when tanks stormed the gates as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. Then we stroll to Ho Chi Minh City’s colonial quarter, walking past scenes of everyday life on the way. Admire the beautiful architecture of the Opera House, City Hall, and the old Saigon Post Office in the city center. Finishing the day after visiting the War Remnants Museum, where the exhibitions displaying imagery from the French and American wars, learning more about the country’s struggle for independence. Free time to explore Saigon downtown on your own in the evening.

This tour begins at 08:00 in Saigon, you’ll transfer 2.5 hours to Ben Tre. Get on a boat in Phong Nam Bridge and experience the local life in coconut’s homeland. Follow the flow of the waterway down the Chet Say River. See how locals transfer goods and agricultural products on the Mekong Delta’s waterway. Visit some family’s workshops where local snacks and many handicraft products are made from coconut fruit and its shells. Another place allows you to interact with locals to see how bricks are handmade from clay and mats are woven from sedge. Take local transport, a moto cart ride to a local restaurant, and enjoy a delicious specialty Mekong Delta’s lunch. Following lunch, board on a sampan and row along a coconut palm canal to cruise back to Hung Vuong Pier, Ben Tre. Be transferred via an air-con vehicle to Mekong Home, located about 30 minutes drive from Ben Tre Town. Rest for a while, then depart with a family member for an introduction to the local fishing villages. Try to cook pancakes with rice milk, coconut milk and some other local ingredients for dinner. Indulge in a lemongrass and ginger foot bath, a local therapeutic method to relieve the pain and fatigue of the legs.

Enjoy breakfast, then, transfer and, have ferry boat to Oc Islet, take a short cycle ride around the small village to experience local culture, cycle along quiet roads and rural laneways, passing fields and farms with lush green coconut forest in the backdrop. There will be many stops, visit small local handicraft village where guests learn all about coconut specialty. Watch as skilled workers make coconut-stemmed baskets and coconut-coated buttons. Have the chance to interact with a workshop owner on different braiding techniques. Stop at a fish farm, to learn more about two species of catfish raised in freshwater ponds. These catfish are the two main species of fish production in Vietnam. Return to Ho Chi Minh City and arrive around the late afternoon.

Spend the morning leisurely until a transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for the flight to the next destination. Tour Ends!