Vietnam In Style 15 Days, 14 Nights

Once known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City was re-named to honor what Ho Chi Minh has done for the country. It sure will welcome you with a big smile.

Arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, collect your luggage process through custom. Your private tour guide and driver from Asia Dream Tours will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/ custom area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel in downtown.

Transfer to your hotel. Free time to adjust yourself from jet lag.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

(Check in time is 14.00 – Early check in is upon availability)

Today your private guide and driver will take you out of Saigon in a private vehicle and onto some beautiful country roads to Ben Tre Town, the heart of the Mekong Delta, popularly known as the “rice bowl” of Vietnam, and is famous for its vast rice fields, orchard farms, coconut trees, numerous waterways and beautiful landscapes.

After appox. 2 hour driving through the lush farming land we arrive at Ben Tre town where we will embark on a motorized boat trip around the scenic Ben Tre River, viewing various local industries along the way. During the boat ride we will stop to visit the small local factories where bricks and sleeping mats are made. Take a leisure walk along the village lanes visiting the local homes to try dry fruits, taste honey tea while enjoying a local Tai Tu music show. Continue to visit a coconut mill workshop where the local delicacy of coconut candy is produced and a range of coconut husk and fiber products are skillfully handcrafted.

We next take a small sampan through palm-fringed back canals, gliding peacefully along the hidden waterways surrounded by immense variety of tropical plants. The quiet, rural setting is a welcome and restorative retreat to the frenetic buzz of Saigon which seems far, far away.

Enjoy sitting in the back a Motor Cart (xe lôi) passing rice and vegetable orchard farms while meeting with local people. Then we head to a local restaurant for lunch, after which we will be driven back toward Ho Chi Minh.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh.

After breakfast, your driver will wait for you at the hotel lobby to take you to the airport for your next flight to Da Nang.

Being welcomed at the airport by our driver and tour guide, you will head to your hotel in Hoi An. Check in and relax at your own leisure in Hoi An.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Breakfast at the hotel then you will be picked up by your guide and driver. Walk to the ancient city; visit the Kwan Temple, Phuc Kien Chinese Assembly Hall, Tan Ky Old House, Japanese Cover Bridge and Historic.

Have lunch at local restaurant.

In the afternoon, embark to the boat, then streaming along Thu Bon river. From there, you can admire the busy life in the riverside. The boat stop in Thanh Ha Pottery village where you can feel about a rural country with the clever pottery artisans. Experience the daily life of a traditional handicraft village, and learn the way of making ceramic products with the steps as forming the clay, natural drying under the sunlight, burning, sculpturing…

The boat continues stopping at Kim Bong Village, the motherland of the most talented woodwork carpenters in central Vietnam. Visiting the village, you will listen to the history of Kim Bong.

Finish the tour and return to your hotel in Hoian. Freetime afterwards.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Today you are free at your own leisure to relax by the beach of Hoi An.

After breakfast we drive approximately 4 hours to Hue, via the scenic Hai Van Pass. En-route we stop to visit the Cham Museum in Da Nang, Marble Mountain with the carving village at the foot of the mountain and My Khe Beach which was home to American GIs during the war.

Before reaching Hue, we will travel to Thuan An Beach where we will board a wooden boat to the Tam Giang Lagoon, then switch to a traditional sampan after 30 minutes on the water. Go deeper in to the lagoon by sampan, which can navigate even the shallow parts of the tidal lagoon. Watch for fishermen who use handmade, conical traps to catch fish, beating the water with long, wooden poles, then pull up alongside their boats and try the traditional technique yourself. You’ll see the sun set over mainland Vietnam as you continue across the lagoon—sunsets here are particularly scenic, as they illuminate the rolling terrain around Hue, which make the perfect backdrop for photography. After the sun goes down, head to shore, then meet a car for the return trip to your Hue hotel, where this tour concludes.

Overnight in Hue

Breakfast in hotel and meet up with our local guide again to start a day exploring the charms of The Citadel in this former Imperial City with many well-preserved royal monuments in Hue. Board a dragon boat cruising the Huong River. Stop at Thien Mu Pagoda and then back to the car to visit the most famous Tu Duc’s tomb.

Today, you are free at your own leisure to refresh yourself after the flight to Hanoi. This afternoon, at around 17.00, we start our excellent street food walking tour in old quarter of Hanoi along the perimeter of the local market where dozens of street hawkers sell a staggering variety of produce from live seafood to exotic fruits and spices. Your expert English-speaking local guide will give you an insight into the intricacies and traditions of Vietnamese food culture including details on ingredients and historical backgrounds of popular northern dishes. We eat as we go, trying seasonal fruits…

Walking through the maze of bustling streets that make up Hanoi’s Old Quarter, we tempt the famous dishes of Hanoi such as Bun Cha Hanoi , Banh Cuon at a local eatery. Continuing into the atmospheric heart of the Old Quarter, we wander past street stalls and quiet residential lanes where you can observe local life that has changed little since Hanoi was founded over 1000 years ago. Our next stop is at a local draft beer restaurant.

We sit down with the Hanoi locals and sample various meats, vegetable together with some glass of cold beer. Your local guide will then take you to one of Hanoi’s best kept secrets to taste top ten street foods in Hanoi is Banh My Hanoi.

At the end of the tour, we will sample the famous Egg Coffee. This hard-to-find café is one of the few left in the narrow street inside the old quarter of Hanoi. Return to your hotel after the excursion or free at your own leisure to continue exploring the city.

Overnight in Hanoi.

The full day tour takes you around Hanoi’s highlights sites including the Ho Chi Minh Complex: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and his stilt house, Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda. You also have chance to visit historic University – The Temple of Literature, that dates back to the 11th century; learn about Buddhist practices in a serene lakeside pagoda. Visit the famous Ethnology Museum. Back to the Old Quarter to walk through the narrow streets that were famous for its specialized craft making guilds, the guild streets are named for their product or location and still bear such names nowadays.

Dinner at your own arangement then you will be picked up by your driver to go to the train station catching the night train to Lao Cai (Sapa).

Overnight on night train with air conditioner.

We will pick you up at Lao Cai railway station to take you up to the township of Sapa which takes approx one hour. Have breakfast at local restaurant.

At around 9:00 am, the tour will start from Sapa town, you will take a 7 km of walking down to the south east of Sapa along the side of Muong Hoa Valley to Y Linh Ho Village of the Black H’mong to see those sensual patterns of the terraces from above. And then take 3 km trekking down to Lao Chai Village, and 4 km through terraced rice fields to Ta Van Village of the Giay minority people.

Have a picnic lunch at local family, where you can see the local house architecture and witness local daily life styles and exclusive customs.

Enjoy the landscapes on the way until getting back to Sapa by car in the afternoon and free at leisure the rest of the day.

Breakfast at the hotel then take a walk down to the South-west of Sapa (around 3 km) to visit Cat Cat Village of the Black H’mong, one of the more well-known ethnic village of Sapa. Visitors to Cat Cat have an opportunity to admire a lively and colorful picture. That is the image of young women sitting by looms with colorful pieces of brocade decorated with designs of flowers and birds. When these pieces of brocade are finished, they are dyed and embroidered with beautiful designs. A noteworthy is that H’Mong women use plants and leaves to dye these brocade fabrics. Relax at the foot of the stunning waterfall and the vestige of a hydroelectric power station that was constructed by the French during the colonial time in Vietnam.

Return to Sapa to have lunch then the shuttle bus will arive and take you back to your hotel in Hanoi.

Arrive at Hanoi around 9pm. End of our services.

At 08:00, you will leave Ninh Binh for Halong Bay after 3.5 hours drive and board a boat, enjoying lunch while cruise through the bay. The magical bay is home to thousands of limestone islands rising from the waves like dragons’ teeth. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with opportunity to interact with fishermen who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. Back on board, you will enjoy cocktails or cooking classes while watching the sunset, before indulging in a lavish dinner onshore. Afterwards, you can choose to do anything from joining movie night, playing board games, or relaxing at the beauty spa before retiring for the night.

Overnight on board.

Wake up on the bay to the sounds of waves, fresh air, and breeze welcoming the new day. After breakfast, visit a beautiful limestone grotto then walk back to the boat for a final glimpse of Ha Long Bay while cruising back to the dock. The boat arrives at the harbor by 11.30 am and your driver is waiting to take you back to Hanoi.

Being welcomed at the airport by our driver and tour guide, you will head to your hotel in Hanoi.

Check in and relax at your own leisure in Ha Noi.

Free at your own leisure until our driver transfers you to the airport for your departure flight home.