Best Of Vietnam Tour 13 Days

When you arrive at the Noi Bai International airport you’ll be met at the baggage claim by our friendly guide. Just look for the sign with our TrekkingSapa logo and your name. We’ll get you to your hotel and see that you’re comfortable, plus we’ll give you an introduction to the city at the same time. Then the rest of the day is yours to settle in, relax, and explore the area.

Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital city and home to seven million people. Traditional and refined with French colonial architecture, tree-lined boulevards, scenic lakes and a bustling Old Quarter, Hanoi has a sophisticated charm. Observe locals practicing Tai Chi by the lake, with barbers and food vendors plying their sidewalk trade.

Enjoy breakfast at hotel, we leave Hanoi for Hoa Lu – Tam Coc, enjoying the beautiful sceneries of the rural areas on the way

After arriving in Ninh Binh province, the guide takes you to visit Hoa Lu – the Ancient Royal capital of Viet Nam. We will visit Dinh king temple and Le king temple. In the 10th century, finding out the heroic histories of this two Kings in Chinese Wars. If time permits after visiting Hoa Lu (for the fit and healthy), take a half-hour walk up one of the surrounding limestone karst hills, the climb is rewarding with spectacular views. After that, we go to Tam Coc (10 km far from Hoa Lu).Have lunch at local restaurant.

After lunch you will get on bamboo boat – rowed by the local people – in Hoang Long river to visit Tam Coc (three caves) on the way. You pass through three enormous caves that provide a brief respite from the intense summer sun. It takes approximately two hours to go up and down the river and along the way, you witness local fisherfolk, village life along the river and, of course, the striking limestone karst formations that Tam Coc is famous for.

Should you feel adventurous climb up to Bich Dong Pagoda on nearby Ngu Nhac Mountain, dating to 1428 and comprising three structures: Ha, Trung, and Thuong Pagodas, in ascending order. Following its back by sampan to Tam Coc town before returning to Hanoi where you arrive in the late afternoon.

You are met with AsiaTourAdvisor at 08:30am in the hotel lobby and then start to visit Ho Chi Minh Complex: Completed in 1975 the complex contains Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum (viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from 4 Sep to 4 Dec every year), his former stilt-house residence, the Presidential Palace and the One Pilla Pagoda. Later to visit 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 influence that Vietnamese society has placed on education.

Lunch is at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, drive to visit Museum of Ethnology: This museum is widely acknowledged as the best in the country and has an extensive display dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic minority peoples. Then we enjoy one hour cyclo tour through the Old Quarter – a must for any visitor to Hanoi! This evening, enjoy a Water Puppet Show – a favourite experience for all visitors to Vietnam. Originated in the 10th century, water puppetry is a unique folk art that cannot be found anywhere in the world but Vietnam. Back to hotel, check in and relax.

07:30 – 08:00 am: Our shuttle bus will come to pick you up at your hotel in Hanoi centre. Drive to Halong City.  Enjoy the landscape of the Red River Delta country side.

Stopover at Hai Duong province for refreshment about 30 minutes. Arrive at Tuan Chau island – Take break and welcome drink at Halong Cruise Lounge

Transfer to Halong Cruise. Welcome drink – receive cruise briefing, safety instructions and check in. Start cruising and explore Halong Bay – one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Enjoy buffet lunch with Vietnamese dishes served while cruising through the bay, passing the most beautiful and quiet areas, such as Incense Burner, Dog Stone Islet, Fighting Cock, Soi Sim beach, Coconut Three Island. Visiting Luon cave, the perfect combination of lime-stone mountains and jade-green sea by bamboo boat with local people. Enjoy quiet space and pure air, you will feel relaxed truly. If you are lucky, you will see monkeys on islands.

Visiting the beautiful Ti Top beach for swimming (if the weather permits), Ti Top Beach is especially famous for its fresh atmosphere, clean water, and smooth white sand that create a great ambiance for tourists to relax or passengers can take steps to reach on the top of  Ti Top beach to have a whole panorama view of Halong Bay.

Back to the boat and free time while sailing to Luon Bo area, and anchor overnight. Option: Massage service available. Please book with Cruise Manager directly (please see massage menu)

Attend the Cooking class on sundeck – How to make Vietnamese spring rolls – traditional Vietnamese food. Then enjoy Happy Hour (Buy one drink-get one free). It is time for chit chat and relaxing. Watch the magnificent sunset over Halong Bay.

19.30 – 23.00: Dinner – Deluxe Vietnamese  BBQ Set Menu Dinner

Evening activities include: Leisure time to enjoy a chat around the bar, watching movies and many sort of Vietnam cultural films, relaxing and spending a romantic night on Halong Cruise’s music, playing cards, chess are available, reading magazines in room and dining room. You may also try your luck at squid fishing & fishing from the boat. 

Wake early and participate in Tai Chi on the top deck or simply relax watching the sunrise over the bay’s towering islands. Enjoy a morning cup of coffee or tea, before setting out to explore the nearby islands by rowboat.

Return to the junk, watch the fruit carving demonstration and participate in the Cooking Class before enjoying a traditional Vietnamese lunch. Then take advantage of the sundeck and admire the amazing rock formations of Bai Tu Long Bay as you navigate back to Halong City, where your driver will meet you at the dock and take you to Noi Bai Airport to catch your short flight to Danang.

On arrival, your tour guide and driver will transfer you to hotel in Hoian, a destination with two faces: the charming, old-world trading port of narrow streets and traditional houses, and the beach with its luxurious resorts and long stretch of clean white sand.

Option 1 – Cooking class:

Your cooking class today will begin with a visit to a colorful local markets, buying all the necessary ingredients and head back to prepare. Your cheft will demonstrate how to cook some typical Vietnam cruisine, you will then start cooking yourself and enjoy what you have cooked  In the afternoon, exploring the enchanting time-capsule town of Old Hoi An on a walking tour with your guide. Hoi An was a major sea port in Asia and it resulted in a fusion of style and culture that has been perfectly preserved. Wander traditional Chinese shops, luxurious French homes, and an ancient Japanese bridge. The town is home to silk markets, Vietnamese food stalls, and talented street performers– all of which are sure to charm you.

Option 2 – Vegetable village: Breakfast at your hotel and then it’s time for a little bit of exercise and a bike ride to Tra Que Vilage and a visit to a local farm. This is a very special involvement in true Vietnamese rural life. You will learn about the history of the village and then be shown the daily practices of growing vegetables. You will learn how the vegetables are used in traditional Vietnamese medicine. You will join in the activities of the farmers – collecting seaweed fertilizer, sowing, raking, watering and picking. Your cultural immersion continues as you join the family to prepare and eat the lunch you have helped grow. You will also taste other local specialties such a Tam huu (spring roll) and Bahn xeo (pancake). Of course you must also join in the after lunch nap before returning to the fiel to learn how to harvest and wrap the produce. Mid-afternoon we wave goodbye to your new friends and go back to Hoian for visiting Hoian Old Quarter. Return to your hotel for relaxing

Option 3 – Countryside biking or motor riding: Our guide will pick you up at the hotel by motobike, riding to Tra Que village and then ride back to the river for aboard a local ferry to Kim Bong Village. This village is not only famous for wood carving but weaving sleeping mat as well, so we will stop at a family to see how they weave the mat for every day use in the old time before having today popular mattresses. Visit a local family making the famous local noodle – Mi Quang is the other chance to learn the local life. You also have a chance to make make and eat the perfect banh dap (rice cracker). Riding into a small village , gearing up for an adrenalin pumping 300 metre bamboo bridge river crossing to the opposing landscape of the sea-board side of the island making our way to Duy Hai market and harbour. Here, the local ferry crossing takes guests to the water coconut palm fringed Cam Thanh village. Have lunch at Cam Thanh homestay. Back your hotel by motobike.

Note: If you prefer biking than scooter tour, we can be flexible to modify the route, matching with your cycling ability.

The most common regret from travelers leaving Vietnam is staying too short in Hoi An! You can stay from three to five nights or even longer, it’s really hard to run out of things to see & do in Hoi An. From the lanterns to the beach, from the boat trips to the shopping, from the vegetable villages to the handcraft areas.

After breakfast at the hotel, enjoy time on your own activities or ask our travel experts to organize our Hoi An tour collections.

Have breakfast at your hotel in Hoi An. Pick you up and transfer to Hue. Drive through the Pass of Ocean Clouds for a stunning panoramic view of the mountains and sea. Arrive in Hue.

Visit the Imperial City, which is located in the Citadel. Modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Imperial City was built in the early 19th century. Explore the Thai Hoa Palace, with its spacious hall and ornate roof of huge timbers supported by 80 carved and lacquered columns.

See the Halls of the Mandarins, the Nine Dynastic Urns and the site where the Forbidden Purple City once stood. Also you will visit Dong Ba market. Afternoon, you will take a boat on Perfume river to visit Thien Mu pagoda and the Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang, built in 1840, which is known for its magnificent architecture and elaborate decorations and is considered one of Hue’s most beautiful pagodas. Overnight in Hue City.

Depart cycling from city center to Thuy Bieu village via southern bank of Perfume river. A bit busy at the beginning but worth it when you make it to the village. Then it’s time to swing around. Discover Tiger Fighting Arena, one of historical place, where elephants and tigers’fought to the death for the entertainment of the Emperor, the royal family and mandarin.

Leave the arena behind, we continue biking to Elephant Temple which is a royal temple where the King’s war elephants were buried and honored. Continue riding to Thuy Bieu village, visit the first local house, find out silk paintingcraft by local people. Keep cycling along verdant paths in Thuy Bieu village for relax. Making incense stick private house – A thing can not lack of buddha, ancestor anniversaries in Hue or general worship. Take a part in making : “banh nam” and “banh loc” – Hue speciality cakes – under the host instruction or learn how to make candy . You can enjoy them right after they have cooked.

Keep riding along the roads then leave Thuy Bieu village by dragon’s boat. The tour will be ended at Toa Kham Boat Dock at the city centre, then back to your hotel by bicycle. Then transfer to airport for your departure flight to HCM city. Upon arrival, your guide and driver will pick you to hotel in center. Check in hotel and explore nearby area by your own.

We’ll pick you up in the morning and take you to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a major part of the Vietnam-American War and a fascinating day trip– explore the mysterious tunnels, find hidden doors and once-deadly traps. After lunch we’ll go back to HCMC and spend the afternoon either visiting the War Remnants Museum or the Reunification Palace Palace, whichever you prefer. Then stroll around the city’s colonial streets in the evening to the Old Saigon Post Office, Dong Khoi Street, Continental Hotel, Opera House and City Hall.

Activities: You’ll visit the amazing Cu Chi Tunnels, then return to the city and choose either the War Remnants Museum or the Reunification Palace. Then you will enjoy the amazing French Colonial Buildings.

Breakfast at your hotel. The guide pick you up and transfer you to Ben Tre. Arrive at Ham Luong dock, you will take a boat and then cruise along Ham Luong River, a tributary to the Mekong River. The cool breeze from the river and lush tropical islands along its banks will immediately get you excited to explore all the great things ahead.

Arrive and visit various local workplaces to find many wonderful examples of how local people use ageless techniques to create their crafts, including activated charcoal, dried coconut, handy coconut husk brooms, and many family businesses using coir, or coconut fiber, to create amazing art. Cruise around the village roads by “Xe Lôi”, the local vehicle, which is a kind of motorized rickshaw. Kayak through the natural canals to get a unique experience of the peaceful beauty of the Mekong River as well as the rural life there. Having lunch at a local host house.

After lunch, you will have some time for relaxing. Then take a car to Can Tho. Arrive in Can Tho, check in hotel. Free time

Take a leisurely boat trip to explore the picturesque tributaries of the Lower Mekong river ( Bassac River), then proceed to visit Cai Răng floating market (& Phong Dien is optional), which are the liveliest in the whole religion. Have you ever tasted Vietnamese vermicelli soup? Well, now go and see how it is made.

Then wander around the village and meet the friendly local people and experience how to cross a “Monkey bridge” which is built by only o¬ne stem of bamboo. Visit the orchard garden. Stop for lunch. On the way back to HCM city by bus the last stop is to see how incense sticks are made (optional visit to Mangrove forest which was a former Viet Cong base used by the guerillas during the War can be arranged on request).