World Heritage Sites of Vietnam 14 Days, 13 Nights

Arrival at Noi Bai International Airport, collect your luggage process through custom. Your private tour guide and driver will be waiting for you outside the arrival hall. It won’t be hard for you to spot your tour guide as he/she will be holding a sign with your name on. Transfer to your hotel and relax for the rest of today.

Overnight in Hanoi.

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

The full day tour takes you around Hanoi’s highlights sites including the Thang Long Citadel, 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.

Return to your hotel after the visit.

Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, you will meet your tour guide at your hotel and start a 2 hour road trip toward Ninh Binh Province.

Around 10:00am, you will arrive at Hoa Lu. Here you will visit the Ancient Capital with the remaining two temples of Dinh King and Le King. This visit offers you a chance to learn more about part of feudal dynasties in Vietnamese history, as well as the old feudal architecture of Vietnamese Temples.

Leaving Hoa Lu you proceed to Tam Coc. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant.

After lunch you will take a boat trip to visit Trang An (you will sit on a sampan boat with local rower). We take a boat trip to visit cave complex: Sang Cave, Toi Cave, Ba Giot Cave, Nau Ruou in mystery and wildness, see scenery of mountain and rivers Ha Long on land of Ninh Binh.

Return to the docks you will enjoy a leisure bicycle ride through the village lanes. Arrive at a mountain where you will climb a few hundred steps to visit Mua Cave and a small temple of Quan Am (the Goddess of Mercy. From the top you can enjoy the panorama view of the amazing rice paddies and the Ngo Dong River below. A perfect spot for Facebook Portrait.

After the visit, check in your hotel and relax at your own leisure in Ninh Binh.

At 08:00, you will leave NinhBinh 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 onboard with the cruise

*** Itinerary varies depending on which cruise you are going to take

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 Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock. The boat arrives at the harbor by 11.30am and your driver is waiting to take youback to Hanoi airport for your short flight to Dong Hoi.

Meeting up at Dong Hoi airport by our driver and tour guide, you will then head to your hotel for check in. Rest of day is for relaxing at your own leisure.

This morning, our tour guide will pick up guests in Dong Hoi and drive you to Paradise cave – the longest dry cave in Asia (located in PhongNha – Ke Bang National Park’s core zone). It is approximately 75 km from Dong Hoi and a 1h15 minute drive)
You will then be taken by golf cart (1.6km) from the main gate through the jungle, to where you will then climb to the mouth of the cave; a climb that boasts spectacular views of the mountainous region around the cave.

12:00: Lunch at Dark cave restaurant. Here you will enjoy a traditional Vietnamese dish. Vegetarian option available. Please contact us in advance if you have any dietary restrictions and we will do our best to accommodate you.

13:00 Visit Dark cave (located in PhongNha – Ke Bang National Park). Participate in the many adventure activities: muddy bath, ziplining, swimming, kayaking, adventure course, caving etc.

16:15 Return to your hotel and relax at your own leisure at your hotel.

Overnight in Dong Hoi.

After breakfast, we will drive straight to VinhMoc tunnel – a bomb shelter for local villagers to hide US bombing from the air, artillery shells form across the DMZ and firepower from US Navy warships across the Gulf of Tonkin.

You will be amazed by how the locals could survive during the hardships of the Vietnam war from 1967-1972.

Continue on to DMZ bridge (Hien Luong bridge in Vietnamese) crossing Ben Hai river at 17th parallel. A bridge that Vietnamese could not go across for technically almost 20 years 1955 -1975 and a river that divided not only a country in general but also a province, a district, a village, a hamlet, a family in specific. Take a look at the museum of 17th Parallel and Desire for Unification before having a stroll across the checkpoint Charlie in the middle of the bridge right at the Demarcation line or dividing line between the North and the South.

Next, we continue to Doc Mieu firebase – a US Marine base south of the DMZ along the McNamara line and one of the strongest point of the defensive line. Visit the cemetery of GioLinh district where 1634 NVA and VC rest in peace, of which 350 labelled as known whilst most of them labelled as Unknown Soldier. Head straight to your hotel in Hue city

After breakfast, your private tour guide will pick you up for an adventure on a dragon boat cruise on the Perfume River. During the cruise, you will visit the Thien Mu (Heavenly Lady) Pagoda with its characteristic seven-tiered tower. You will also see the Austin car which took Monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon where he famously set himself on fire in 1963 as a dramatic protest against the unfair treatment of Buddhists by the Diem regime.

Continue on to the Hue Royal Complex, former home to the Nguyen Dynasty, the last the last Monarchy of Vietnam from 1802 – 1945. You will explore the ancient and atmospheric walled Citadel which contains the former Imperial Palace and the Forbidden Purple City.
Today you will enjoy an excellent Vegetarian lunch at a local Buddhist Monastery, prepared and served by the nuns.
In the afternoon, you will visit the final resting place – so-called the King tomb of Tu Duc.

Return to your hotel after the visit. Rest of day is for relaxing at your leisure.

Overnight in Hue.

After breakfast we drive approximately 4 hours to Hoian, 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.

On arrival to Hoi An, your private tour guide will pick you up and take you on a half-day walking tour of Hoi An through the narrow winding streets of the Ancient Quarter. From the 16th to the 18th century, Hoi An was a thriving international commercial port. Today it is a quaint riverside town popular with tourists for its eclectic architecture, tailor shops, and cafes.
Visits:
– Chua Ong Pagoda
– The Assembly Hall
– The 200-year-old Tam Ky house
– The Japanese Covered Bridge
– Hoi An central market

After the visit, you will check into your hotel. Rest of day is for relaxing at your own leisure in Hoi An.

This morning, your private tour guide will meet you up at the hotel then start commencing the visit to My Son Sanctuary – the spiritual center of the ancient kingdom of Champa situated in the heart of a beautiful valley and surrounded by high mountains, 45 kilometers away from Hoi An.
Letters from the 4th century were found during excavations at My Son, revealing that the temples of the complex were used to worship and make offerings to the Hindu gods. In 1999, UNESCO designated My Son a World Heritage Site.
Originally built from wood, the temples were completely destroyed by fire in the 6th century and then rebuilt in the 7th century with locally made bricks. By the 13th century, more than 70 similar temples had been built, establishing My Son as a sanctuary of Hinduism in the Champa Kingdom.

Return to Hoi An, you are free at your own leisure for the rest of day.

This morning, you will be free at your own leisure until our driver transfers you to the airport for your short flight to Ho Chi Minh City. On arrival, check into your hotel and relax at your own leisure for the rest of day.

Overnight in Hue.

After breakfast, your private tour guide will take you on a full-day tour and impart another perspective of the familiar and not-so-familiar landmarks in modern-day HCM City. You will discover the city’s culture, architecture, religious practices and fascinating history. Below are the recommended sites, but of course, your guide will be happy to modify the list based on your preferences.
– Tao Dan Park, to catch the bird lovers club who show up only between 6 and 9 am every morning. Enjoy some local coffee while your guide explains the history and practice of keeping birds in Vietnam.
– Thich Quang Duc monument – attribute to a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death on June 11, 1963 in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by then South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem administration.
– The colorful Ho Thi Ky flower market.
– A drive through Cho Lon to visit Nhi Phu Temple, built at the end of 17th century by Chinese immigrants from the Fukkien province in China.

Lunch will be served at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

After lunch time, you will continue to visit:
– General Post Office (GPO), noted for its neoclassical architecture, designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel.
– Notre Dame Cathedral considered being one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Vietnam. It was built in the period 1877 – 1880 by the French architect Bourad.
– Reunification Palace (the former Presidential Palace), where the war officially ended on April 30th, 1975 when tank 843 of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates of the home of the President of the Republic of Vietnam.
– A drive down Dong Khoi Street, where, in 1975, during the dying days of the former regime, the iconic photograph was taken of a helicopter lifting people out of Saigon.
– The Opera House (now the Municipal Theatre), built in 1880, was used in the filming of “The Quiet American”.
– HCM City People’s Committee (formerly Hôtel de Ville) built in 1902-1908, one of the most photographed buildings in Vietnam, notable for its gardens, ornate facade and elegant interior lit with crystal chandeliers.

The rest of the day will be yours to explore at your leisure.

Overnight in HCM City

After breakfast, our tour guide will wait for you at the hotel lobby to start the visit to Mekong Delta.

The program will start with a visit of Cai Be floating market. Then, an optional stop can be made at local workshops where you can see how to make rice paper, coconut candy and pop-rice, pop-corn…

The rowing boat will take you deeper into the countryside on smaller canals and to enjoy the peaceful time. It is so interesting to see traditional houses made of wood and palm tree leaves and see some activities of the local farmers with an opportunity to make contacts with them and see how they catch fish…

Lunch can be served at Ut Trinh home. After lunch, we can walk around and then we will enjoy some kinds of fruits when listening to the traditional music.

One more thing to do in this trip is biking ! It will be so amazing to bike on village paths to see the local farms, houses, real life and the ancestral ways to pick up fruits in Mekong Delta..

The cruise will end at Vinh Long city where your driver is waiting to take you back to Ho Chi Minh City.

This morning, you are free at your own leisure until our driver transfers you to the airport for your departure flight home.