Customized 14 Days Vietnam Tour with History Culture and Nature

Day 1: Hanoi Airport Pick-up, Downtown Visit

1. 1h
   Welcome to Hanoi! Your guide and driver are waiting for you right outside the customs in the Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport, with a welcome board bearing your name. After a warm greeting, you’ll be escorted to the well-selected hotel. Have a short break and we will unlock this 14-day Vietnam tour.
2. Hanoi Opera House
   1h · Admission ticket included
   First, we will drive a little while to admire the Hanoi Opera House, which is an architectural symbol of the French colonial period.
3. Hanoi Old Quarter Vietnam
   30m
   Continue ahead to the lively Old Quarter, with 36 streets each emphasizing on one particular product for sale. You’ll definitely be dazzled by a rich variety of traditional food and handicrafts. While walking on the narrow streets, be ready to exclaim over Vietnam’s sobriquet - Motorcycle Kingdom - when swarms of motorbikes dash past you.
4. 30m
   Then head for the Hoan Kiem Lake to discover a legend behind its name “Lake of the Returned Sword”. Once, there was a giant turtle in the lake, and the founding monarch of the Late Le Dynasty (1428-1789) used a sword the turtle gave to him to fight against invaders.
5. 1h · Admission ticket included
   Continue to a small island embraced by the lake to pay respect to the 100-year-old Ngoc Son Temple. At last, a big dinner will be arranged for you in a popular local restaurant, where you can sample authentic Vietnamese dishes like spring rolls and beef noodles and chat with your guide. After that, your guide will escort you back to the cozy hotel.

Day 2: Hanoi Classical City Tour, Night Train to Lao Cai

1. Ba Dinh Square
   20m
   Today’s sightseeing will begin with Ba Dinh Square, where grand ceremonies and rallies are held.
2. 40m · Admission ticket included
   We will then take a stroll to the West Lake nearby and check out the Presidential Palace and Ho Chi Minh's Stilt House, from which you’ll have a better understanding of Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of Vietnam.
3. One Pillar Pagoda
   30m · Admission ticket included
   Afterwards, proceed to the One Pillar Pagoda, which stands in the middle of a pond.
4. Temple of Literature & National University
   30m · Admission ticket included
   Next, visit the first college in Vietnam - Temple of Literature, a Chinese-style building aged nearly 1,000 where Confucius and many Confucian sages are enshrined
5. 1h · Admission ticket included
   In the afternoon, we will visit the Museum of Ethnology, which displays the arts and folk customs of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.
6. Quan Thanh Temple
   30m · Admission ticket included
   Next are the Quan Thanh Temple, the largest Taoist temple in Hanoi.
7. 30m
   Then, visit Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi.
8. Thang Long Water Puppet
   1h · Admission ticket included
   After that, enjoy a Water Puppet Show, the quintessence of Vietnam culture with about 1,000 years' history. Originally a way of entertainment for rice farmers when flood or slack season occurs, it gradually became a unique national treasure of Vietnam. After the show, your guide will accompany you to the railway station and help you board the overnight sleeper train to Lao Cai.

Day 3: Lao Cai Pick-up, Drive to Sapa, Hike to Cat Cat & Sin Chai Villages

1. Cat Cat village
   6h · Admission ticket included
   Upon arrival, you will meet your experienced local guide at the exit of Lao Cai Railway Station and then be escorted to the hotel in Sapa, a highland county in Lao Cai. After a short break, your guide will accompany you to hike through the famous Cat Cat Village and Sin Chai Village, where you’ll appreciate beautiful terraced rice fields that stretch continuously in the valley, and have a glimpse of local tribal life. Don’t be confused by the name of Cat Cat Village - it’s not a village of cats, but home to a tribe of Black Hmong people that live in the hills.

Day 4: Sapa Full Day Trekking, Night Train Back to Hanoi

1. Trekking local villages and rice fields in Sapa
   6h · Admission ticket included
   Sapa is known for its beautiful streams, bamboo forests, spectacular rice terraces and local folklore, and today, we’ll witness them all when trekking through the villages of H'mong, Dzao and Dazy. For example, in H'mong Village, you’ll encounter some older women with black teeth and be amazed to learn that it’s actually a sign of maturity and beauty in their traditional idea. There are three routes, respectively measuring about 3 kilometers (2 miles), 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) and 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), for you to pick according to your physical condition or preference. There are many forks, making it easy to get lost, but your experienced guide will get you through and show you the most beautiful sceneries. For today's lunch, you will enjoy authentic Vietnamese food with fresh local ingredients. After the trek, we will transfer you to Lao Cai to take the overnight train back to Hanoi.

Day 5: Hanoi Pick-up, Ha Long Bay Cruise

1. 4h · Admission ticket included
   Upon arrival, you’ll meet your guide and driver and then be escorted to the nearby Cosiana Hotel to have breakfast and take a short rest. After around 3 hours’ driving to the port, get onboard a cruise ship to explore Ha Long Bay, which is UNESCO-honored for its heavenly karst landscape with countless limestone islets rising out of the turquoise sea. While on the 4-star Signature Royal Cruise, which is Western-style by the way, you will have lunch and head to Bai Tu Long Bay. While there, switch to a kayak to explore the Vung Vieng floating fishing village, which is famous for its pearl farming.

Day 6: Half Day Ha Long Bay Cruise, Fly to Hue

1. Thien Canh Son Cave
   7.5 days · Admission ticket included
   You may get up early to have a Tai Chi class and enjoy morning tea or coffee on the sundeck. After that, continue to explore Ha Long Bay. If you take the Signature Royal Cruise, you will admire the stalactites and stalagmites in Thien Canh Son Cave. After the exploration, have brunch on the cruise while sailing back to the wharf. At noon, disembark the ship and your guide will accompany you to Hanoi’s airport and help you board the flight to Hue. After landing, you’ll be warmly welcomed by your professional local guide and then be escorted to the well-selected hotel.

Day 7: Hue Highlights: Imperial City, Royal Palace, Tomb of Tu Duc & Dong Ba Market

1. Hue Royal Palace
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Enjoy a delicious breakfast at the hotel and we will explore the highlights of Hue, the capital of Vietnam's last dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Start with the Imperial City, which is in the heart of Hue, and visit the Hue Royal Palace.
2. Tomb of Tu Duc
   2h · Admission ticket included
   Next, admire the Tomb of Tu Duc, one of the most beautiful architectural complex from the Nguyen Dynasty. Emperor Duc (1829-1883) once had it as a temporary residence, and when he died, he chose to be buried here. Although it’s an imperial tomb, you will find vegetation, delicate pavilions and bridges over green water that inject life to every corner. Intriguingly, lots of buildings here have the word "Qian (means ‘modest’ in Chinese)" in their names, so the tomb is also called the Modest Tomb.
3. Dong Ba Market
   30m · Admission ticket included
   Afterwards, stroll around the Dong Ba Market, which is loved for its famous rice paper and silk paintings.

Day 8: Scenic Road Trip to Hoi An via Hai Van Pass

1. Thien Mu Pagoda
   30m
   After breakfast, travel to scenic Thien Mu Pagoda to witness the oldest temple in Hue established more than 400 years ago.
2. 1h 30m · Admission ticket included
   We’ve specially arranged a dragon boat tour, instead of a car ride, which enables you to take a panoramic view of the Pagoda from afar with the Perfume River flowing by it. Off the boat, climb the seven-story octagonal tower, the highlight of the temple, with each floor representing an incarnation of Buddha. We will also stand in awe before an old abandoned car, which the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc drove to Saigon in 1963 before burning himself to show protest against the government's anti-Buddhism policies. Then continue to visit the beautiful Tomb of Minh Mang, built for the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty to rest and so cleverly designed as to blend into the surrounding mountains and rivers.
3. 30m · Admission ticket included
   After lunch, head to Hoi An by a 3.5 hours' car ride. Along the way, immerse yourself in one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world at Hai Van Pass, and pay a visit to the Museum of Cham Sculpture, which houses the richest collection of sculptures crafted by ancient ethnic Cham group in the world. As most of the original exhibits aren’t covered by glass, you can appreciate up close the details of vividly carved spiritual objects, gods and daily life scenes.
4. The Marble Mountains
   30m
   Then, visit handicraft villages near Marble Mountains to learn the manufacturing process of local crafts, such as stone carvings. After arriving in Hoi An, check into the hotel to have a good rest.

Day 9: Hoi An: Side Trip to My Son Sanctuary

1. My Son Sanctuary
   2h · Admission ticket included
   This morning, we will take an excursion to My Son Sanctuary, where sits the largest religious shrine complex of the ancient Cham Dynasty (192-1802) in Vietnam. Here, you will stroll around some twenty crumbling brick and stone temples, as well as amaze at floral patterns, birds and gods carved on walls in detail - they show you Cham people’s aesthetics and craftsmanship in architecture and stone carving. A brick building has a life span of a century; however, the Cham temples have survived for up to 1,000 years. This place feels serene, and with our guide’s stories, you will be transported back in time.

Day 10: Fly 1.5h to Ho Chi Minh City, Downtown Sightseeing

1. 2h · Admission ticket included
   Today you’ll leave for Ho Chi Minh City by air. At the appointed time, your guide and driver will escort you to Da Nang Airport and help you board the plane. You will say hi to Ho Chi Minh City in around 1.5 hours and your local guide will pick you up and transfer you to the hotel. After a short break, we will kick off our tour in Ho Chi Minh City. First visit the Reunification Palace, which was first the presidential palace of Governor-General of Indochina. It later has changed its name twice.
2. War Remnants Museum
   40m · Admission ticket included
   Then walk to the War Remnants Museum to learn more about the Vietnam War (1955-1975) through photos and documents, as well as helicopters and bombs used in the war.
3. Saigon Central Post Office
   30m
   Next we’ll reach a historical district to admire the French-style building complex, including the Notre Dame Cathedral, another landmark of the city, and the Central Post Office, the first post office in Ho Chi Minh City.
4. Ben Thanh Market
   30m
   Then here comes the last stop of today, the Ben Thanh Market, the city's largest trading market that has various kinds of daily goods to offer. If you want to buy some as souvenirs, please don't forget to bargain with those local sellers.

Day 11: Ho Chi Minh City: Visit Cu Chi Tunnels

1. Cu Chi Tunnels
   2h 30m · Admission ticket included
   After breakfast, we’ll head to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a narrow underground combat bunker, including wells, granaries, meeting rooms, as well as dormitories, used by Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communist) guerrillas during the Vietnam War. We’ll explore some of the tunnels open to the public. Since there are numerous concealed entrances and exits of the Tunnels, please be sure to follow the guide to avoid getting lost. Be cautious of insects like chiggers, which thrive in such dark and damp environment, and apply some insect repellent if need be.
2. 1h
   Afterwards, we will go to the Cao Dai Temple. Being the third most popular religion in Vietnam after Buddhism and Catholicism, Cao Dai combines ideologies of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, Confucianism and others, worshipping not only sages from these religions but even Shakespeare! Take off shoes to enter the hall and there are colorful rags on the floor for stepping on. You’ll find believers here wearing different colors of robes - red for authority (Confucianism), yellow for virtue (Buddhism), blue for tolerance (Taoism), and white for lay followers. After the visit, your guide will escort you back to the downtown area.

Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho with Mekong River Cruise

1. 3h · Admission ticket included
   Today’s highlight - Mekong River Cruise - awaits you! After a 2 hours’ car ride, we’ll arrive in Ben Tre, and we’ve arranged you an adventure on the unspoiled Ham Luong River. Halfway through, go ashore to view some traditional manufacturing workshops, where you can learn how locals produce bricks, coconut candy (there are free samples!) and coconut jam. After that, you will visit a local farmer's home and get a close look into their life. Besides, take the chance to admire the picturesque villages by the local traditional tricycle, "Xe Loi".
   
   A lunch will be arranged in a local restaurant to try fried elephant ear fish. After that, continue to appreciate the Mekong River by sampan. Then we will go back to Ben Tre to disembark. Your guide will meet you at the shore, take you to Can Tho and help you check in a local hotel.

Day 13: From Can Tho to Cai Rang Floating Market, Drive back to Ho Chi Minh City

1. Cai Rang Floating Market
   1h · Admission ticket included
   In this early morning, we’ll head to Cai Rang Floating Market, Vietnam's most famous floating market, with its busiest hours from around 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Many travel agencies arrange the public shuttle boat requiring you to leave at 4 a.m. However, we’ll arrange a private motorboat for you to start off at 6 a.m. and arrive at around 7:30 a.m. Upon arrival, board a hand rowing boat to venture along the river to witness the market saturated with boats loaded with fruits, vegetables and traditional food, all prepared and served onboard. You may wonder what the merchandise-decorated long pole standing on each boat is - that’s the way vendors show you what they offer. If you are interested, wave to them and they’ll row over. Perhaps indulge yourself with ripe jackfruit or a cup of handmade iced coffee under a beautiful sunrise over the river. After that, your guide will send you back to the hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 14: Departure from Ho Chi Minh City & Airport See-off

1. Ho Chi Minh City
   1h
   Your two-week Vietnam private tour comes to an end today. After breakfast, your guide will help you check out the hotel and escort you to the airport. We wish you a nice journey home. If you want to extend your trip, please contact us freely. We will be pleased to help you.

Pickup details

Your guide and driver are waiting for you right outside the customs in the Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport.

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels