DAY 1: HANOI
Arrive in Hanoi at …
Customs formalities and luggage collection (Estimated time approximately 45 minutes).
You will then be greeted by your guide and driver, outside the airport, transfer to Hanoi city for a day tour of the city
HANOI CITY : is the capital of Northern Vietnam and keeps this role until now. The city is located on the right bank of the Red River and far about 1760 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi features a warm humid subtropical climate with plentiful precipitation. In addition, Hanoi is considered one of the main cultural centers of Vietnam, where most Vietnamese dynasties have left their imprint.
Temple of Literature : founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, the Temple of Literature is dedicated to Confucius (Khong Tu). Inside you’ll find a pond known as the ‘Well of Heavenly Clarity’, a low-slung pagoda and statues of Confucius and his disciples. A rare example of well-preserved traditional Vietnamese architecture, the complex honours Vietnam’s finest scholars and men of literary accomplishment. It is the site of Vietnam’s first university, established here in 1076, when entrance was only granted to those of noble birth.
Ngoc Son Temple was built in the 18th century on Jade Island in the centre of the ‘Lake of the Returned Sword’ or Hoan Kiem Lake. Legend describes how an emperor was once given a magical sword which helped him defeat the Chinese Ming Dynasty and in doing so saw the return of the Golden Turtle God to the lake.
Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Restored Sword) : refers to a legend of the great Vietnamese hero, Le Loi, who led a successful uprising against the Chinese in the fifteenth century. Tradition has it that Le Loi netted a gleaming sword while out fishing in a sampan and when he returned as King Ly Thai To, after ten years of battle, he wanted to thank the spirit of the lake. As he prepared the sacrifice there was a timely peal of thunder and the miraculous sword flew out of its scabbard, into the mouth of a golden turtle (Vietnamese use the same word for turtle and tortoise) sent by the gods to reclaim the weapon.
Hanoi Cyclo : an hour cycling around and take photos in the Old Quarter.
The Old Quarter (36 old streets) : has a history that spans 2,000 years and represents the eternal soul of the city. Ha Noi Old Quarter with its old-styled narrow streets full of antique brick houses seems to nostalgically resist the flow of time while still actively trying to adapt to the dynamic atmosphere of the modern city. Once a bustling area where merchants and artisans gathered to sell their products, Ha Noi Old Quarter consists of many small, meandering streets, each bears the name of the goods that was specifically traded there such as Hang Bac (Silver Product), Hang Ma (Paper Product), Hang Go (Wood Product), just to name a few.
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.
DAY 2 : HANOI – HA LON
Breakfast at the hotel
Then visit :
Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum : is an important historical attraction of Hanoi, known for honoring the national hero: President Ho Chi Minh. The building is where visitors can express their admiration and gratitude towards the common father/uncle of Vietnamese who has led the country to independence and reunification.
One pillar pagoda : a wooden pagoda on a single stone pillar, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology : this fabulous collection relating to Vietnam’s ethnic minorities features well-presented tribal art, artefacts and everyday objects gathered from across the nation, and examples of traditional village houses.
West lake ( Ho Tay) : is the biggest freshwater lake of northwest center of Hanoi, Vietnam. With a shore length of 17 km (about 10.6 miles) and 500 hectare (about 5 km2) in area, this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas.
Depart to Halong Bay.
Visit of Den Nghe temple.
Overnight at the hotel in Ha Long.
DAY 3 : HA LONG – NINH BINH
Breakfast at the hotel
Ha Long Bay : in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. It was called ‘the wonder standing in the heaven’. In the heart of stone islands, there have the beautiful caves such as Thien Cung Cave, Dau Go Cave, Sung Sot Cave, and Tam Cung Cave that are really the castles of the heaven. With the special values, on December 17th 1994, in the 18th session of World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, Halong Bay was officially recognized as the World natural heritage. In November 2000, Halong Bay was recognized by UNESCO as the World natural heritage about the values of geomorphology. On April 27th, officially stated that Halong Bay became one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at hotel in Ninh Binh
DAY 4 : NINH BINH – HA NOI
Breakfast at the hotel
Visit :
King Dinh Tien Hoang’s Temple: The temple is located in Truong Yen village, Hoa Lu town, in a garden of 5 hectares wide. It faces the East, and stands in front of Ma Yen Mount, where King Dinh Tien Hoang’s tomb was located.The temple was built in the 17th century, with a special architecture.
King Le Dai Hanh Temple: is almost the same as Dinh Temple in term of architectural design, except for some details. Le Dai Hang temple also consists of three parts: Bai Duong used for the community, Thien Huong, in memory of the royal mandarins of King Le, and finally, the altar in memory of the King.
Trang An Eco-Tourism Complex : is a complex beauty – landscapes called as an ‘outdoor geological museum’ with numerous caves, mountains, valley water, trees and the historic relic. The Trang An eco-tourism site is considered the “Ha Long Bay land”. Here, space was so quiet that the only sounds were those of the trains. In the distance, visitors have the opportunity to perceive the white flowers of the reeds in the foothills. While enjoying fresh air and mountain scenery, which takes visitors into a magical world. On June 25th, 2014, at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Qatar, the UNESCO named Trang An Landscapes Complex as a world heritage, becoming the first recognized cultural and natural heritage site in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Thien Ha cave : is located in the hillside of the Tuong Mountain rang with the height of nearly 200m. The gate of the cave is about 4m high with various stalactites in different features at the very beginning of it. Going into the cave and looking back, you will see a sparkling light ribbon coming through the gate to reflect the stalactites. All the length of Thien Ha cave is about 700m with two areas: 200m dry cave and 500m water cave.
Lunch at the restaurant
Back to Ha Noi.
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at the hotel in Ha Noi.
DAY 5 : HA NOI – DA NANG – HOI AN
Breakfast at the hotel
Transfer to Hanoi airport for flight to Da Nang.
Arrival in Da Nang at …, visit.
Museum of Cham Sculpture : displayed about 300 original sandstone works and terra-cotta. All works have the date from the 7th century to 15th century. Museum of Cham sculpture is the creativeness which base on Champa ancient art. It is small architecture but unique. Some architects appreciated that it was one of the most beautiful architectural museums in Southeast Asia and the world. The ancient contour in the design of two French architects still retains until now. Coming to museum of Cham sculpture as stepping into ancient culture, it converges all kinds of Cham quintessential culture.
Lunch at the restaurant
Then depart to Hoi an, visit :
Silk Village : Located only about a kilometer away from Hoi An Ancient Town’s bustling center, the Hoi An Silk Village breathes new life into the 300 year-old history of the Maritime Silk Road. The Village is surrounded by verdant mulberry gardens, lotus ponds and horticulture farms. Paths wind through the gardens and ancient houses, built in typical Quang Nam architecture, providing a serene atmosphere that carries you to the days of old.
Walk to the Hoi An ancient town : about 30 km south of Danang. The ancient town of Hoi An is a typical example of traditional ports in Southeast Asia preserved intact and thoughtful. Most of the houses here are the traditional architecture of Hoi An is also the landmark mark of the blend, cross-cultural. With outstanding values, Hoi An ancient city is recognized as a world cultural heritage…
Cua Dai Beach is located at the end of predictably named Cua Dai Road, running for eight kilometres along the coast, from the tip at the Cham Island ferry port north to An Bang Beach. At the public section – the first part you see where Cua Dai Road meets the beach – there are parts where it is impossible to take a “walk on the beach” without being waist deep in the ocean. This main hub, with its many seafood restaurants and sun chair rentals, used to be the main draw.
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at hotel in Hoi An
DAY 6: HOI AN – DA NANG – HUE
Breakfast at the hotel
Drive to Hue through the Cloud Pass which offers a magnificent panorama of the paradise peninsula of Lang Co.
Lunch at the restaurant on stilts.
Visit Hue: the citadel, the imperial city starting with the building of the King’s Cavalier. Then, sampan cruise on the Perfume River. Visit the Thien Mu Pagoda with an octagonal tower of seven floors.
Dinner in town and overnight at the hotel
DAY 7 : HUE – HO CHI MINH CITY
Breakfast at the hotel
Then transfer to Da Nang airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
Visit :
Ben Thanh Market : is the most famous shopping destination for tourists in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring every type of souvenir the spending traveler desires to buy. The attraction is one of the earliest surviving structures in Saigon and an important landmark of the city. The market was first created as an informal gathering of street vendors near Saigon River.
The Central Post Office : is one of the oldest buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. This was built around 1886 – 1891 based on Villedieu’s design, a famous French architect. It has been the busiest post office of the country. Its architecture, with a roof topped by a glass roof, is reminiscent of the buildings of the World Expo. It is a place where it is nice to stop.
The People’s Committee Building of Ho Chi Minh City : was built and put into use in 1909 as a hotel whose original name was Hôtel de Ville. It was designed by Gardes, a famous French architecture. This building is thus one of the oldest, biggest and most beautiful French style buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, functioning both as a city institution and as the city’s most prominent landmark today.
The Saigon Opera House is owning an elegant architecture.The building still many lively evidences for the influence of French architecture in Vietnam. This magnificent building designed by French architect Ferret Eugene, was built as a classical opera house with 800 seats. The style of this majestic building is influenced by flamboyant style of the French Third Republic. Since 1975, he has returned to his original function.
Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral : built in the late 1880s by French colonists, is one of the few remaining strongholds of Catholicism in the largely Buddhist Vietnam. Sitting between two streams of traffic, Notre Dam Cathedral is in the middle of Saigon’s chaotic District 1. A brick, neo-Romanesque church with 40m-high square towers tipped with iron spires. Interior walls are inlaid with devotional tablets and some stained glass survives. In front of the cathedral stands a Virgin Mary statue, which is said to have shed tears in 2005, causing thousands of people to stop around the Basilica.
Independence Palace (Dinh Doc Lap), also known as Reunification Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Thong Nhat), built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngo Viet Thụ and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.
Dong Khoi Street: Formerly known as Rue Catinat during the French colonial days and Tu Do in the 1960s, this street was reborn during Doi Moi as the centre of Saigon’s commercial and shopping district. Local boutiques compete with international brands, and restaurants litter the street set in beautifully restored French colonial buildings.
Dinner in town and overnight at the hotel
DAY 8 : HOCHIMINH CITY – MY THO – BEN TRE – CAN THO
Breakfast at the hotel
Depart to My Tho.
Welcome by your guide … speaking French and your Ho Chi Minh driver, transfer to My Tho
Arrival at My Tho at ….
Take a boat trip on the Tien River to the other side of the Tien River:
Ben Tre is the capital city of Ben Tre Province, in the Mekong Delta area of southern Vietnam. The city covers an area of 65.75 km2 (25.39 sq mi) and has a population of 143,639 as of 2009. Ben Tre is 85 kilometres (53 mi) south-east of Ho Chi Minh City and is connected to the surrounding provinces by the Rach Mieu Bridge. Nearly destroyed by Allied bombing, it played a significant role in the Vietnam War. Reports of the assault and resulting civilian casualties called into question the war aims of the United States.
Visit a village practicing fish farming, the floating fish market along Dragon Island.
You cross the XEP canal to discover the coconut collection and how people make handicrafts from coconut trunks and hulls.
Enjoy seasonal fruits while listening to traditional music.
Carriage ride on the village path and stop at Mr Nam Ngo’s orchard
Taste honey with tea or wine. See breeding bees in wooden boxes under the longan tree.
Boat trip along the stream. Lunch on one of the islets.
Depart to Can Tho
City of CAN THO: capital of the homonymous province, is the hub of the Mekong Delta. As a political, economic and cultural center, the city still plays the role of trade hub for the entire region.
Dinner at the restaurant.
Overnight at the hotel in Can Tho.
DAY 9 : CAN THO – LONG XUYEN – CHAU DOC
Breakfast at the hotel early
In the morning, 7H motorboat ride on the Cai Nong canal to visit the
Cai Rang Floating Market : in Can Tho City is one of the three biggest in the Mekong Delta. The shops and stalls at the market are boats of different sizes. One of the most interesting sights in the Delta are the floating markets and associated river life. Most of the boats are loaded with a lot of agricultural products and specialties of Mekong River Delta. Cai Rang Floating Market is one of the most outstanding one in Mekong River Delta. The market is not just a crowsed trading area, but also a unique cultural space in Can Tho.
Visit :
Pagoda of the Lady Chua Xu
Tay An Pagoda :Tay An was constructed in 1847 and has been rehabilitated and repaired many times. In 1958, it was thoroughly upgraded to encompass a total area of 1,250sq.m with nearly 200 statues. Water and electricity was also available and could be supplied to over 1,000 people.
Tay An is an ancient pagoda with a mixture of Vietnamese and Asian architectural styles. Lying on one side of the Sam Mountain, under the lights, the pagoda itself looks like a monk dressed in yellow, heading to Chau Doc Town, An Giang Province.
Thoai Ngoc Hau Tomb is located in front of Ba Chua Xu Temple, that is the biggest monument at the foot of Sam Mountain, 5-km southwest of Chau Doc.
Thoai Ngoc Hau (1761 – 1829), originally named Nguyen Van Thoai, was the first man from this area to exploit the virgin soil, establish living settlements, and dig Vinh Te and Thoai Ha channels. He was buried there along with his two wives and a temple in his honour was built in the 1930s.
then climb to the top of Sam Mountain is the highest mountain in the Mekong Delta. On the way there, you can enjoy the sights of the two rice fields along the road, and drop by for a short visit to a small Khmer village. You will have a short walk up on the mountain side to see the daily life of mountain people. There are dozens of pagodas and temples, many of them set in caves, around Sam Mountain. The Chinese influence is obvious and Sam Mountain is a favourite spot for ethnic Chinese (both pilgrims from Vietnam and abroad).
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at Chau Doc Hotel
DAY 10 : CHAU DOC – PHNOM PENH
Breakfast at the hotel early
You go to the port of Chau Doc to take the fast boat leaving at 7:30 for Phnom Penh.
Arrival at the port of Phnom Penh, for immigration formalities (visa fee of 30 USD), welcome by your English speaking guide and transfer to the hotel.
Visit :
Wat Phnom is a Buddhist templelocated in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was built in 1372, and stands 27 metres (88.5 ft) above the ground. It is the tallest religious structure in the city. The pagoda was given the name of Wat Preah Chedey Borapaut. Wat Phnom is the central point of Phnom Penh.
The Museum of Fine Arts, the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace.
Overnight at the hotel in Phnom Penh.
DAY 11 : PHNOM PENH – KOMPONG – SIEM REAP
Breakfast at the hotel ,
Depart to Angkor.
Visit Wat Kohear Nokor.
Visit a village and a pagoda from where you can observe the daily life of the monks.
Visit temples lost in the forest, Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk.
Discovery of the ancient capital of Chenla and its 100 temples.
Depart to Angkor.
Installation at the hotel.
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap
DAY 12 : SIEM REAP
Breakfast at the hotel
Beginning visit of the group of primitive temples of Roluos. Stroll around the Siem Reap market and visit the school construction sites, which revive the country’s traditional art in wood and stone carving.
Lunch at the restaurant.
Visit the Angkor Thom located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors..
Dinner at the restaurant
Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap
DAY 13 : SIEM REAP
Breakfast at the hotel
Visite :
Prasat Kravan, Sras Srang, Banteay Kdei,
Ta Prohm is the modern name of the temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara. Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was founded by the Khmer King as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm is in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the junglesurroundings have made it one of Angkor’s most popular temples with visitors. UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992.
Lunch during the visit
Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres). It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura , the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.
Return to the hotel.
Animated dinner of Cambodian classical dances
Overnight at hotel in Sieam Reap.
DAY 14 : SIEM REAP – RETURN
Breakfast at the hotel
Visit Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km (16 mi) north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapuraand Angkor Thom. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today..
Lunch at the restaurant.
Transfer to the airport, assistance with check-in and return