BEST OF THE NORTH & SOUTH VIETNAM

Arrive in Hanoi, the modern capital of Vietnam. You will be free to get refreshed, explore the city on your own and check into your hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

Notes: the official check-in time at hotel is from 14h00.

After breakfast at hotel, head out to Ba Dinh Square and start our day with The Presidential Palace (formerly Palace of the Governor-General of French Indochina), Ho Chi Minh’s house-on-stilt and nearby One Pillar Pagoda. Following is a visit to the Temple of Literature – the first university of Vietnam built in 11th century.

Next is a visit to the National Museum of Vietnam History You then drive to Hanoi Center, explore the lively Old Quarter of Hanoi. This bustling heart of Hanoi has been a commercial centre since King Ly Thai To built his palace there in the 11th century. Skilled craftsmen started to migrate and artisan guilds were formed on the famous “36 Streets”. Previously, each street carried the name of the item produced and sold there, and many still have the same names. This is a place you must see to experience Hanoi, where you will find shopping and cultural/historical sites all wrapped into one.

Overnight in hotel in Hanoi.

After breakfast, travel overland to Ha Long bay and embark the cruise upon arrival. Halong bay is definitely an outstanding natural beauty which has been well known not only in Vietnam but also worldwide. The rock formations are wonderful with variously shaped islets which many of them containing fabulous caves full of colorful stalactites and stalagmites. The caves, floating villages, beaches are really indispensable to a complete trip. Your trip will commence with an extravagant welcome seafood lunch while the boat is navigating around the magnificent islets reflecting in emerald water to reach a floating village where the locals live on fishing offshore or raising fishes in cages. Especially, the cruise boat would take you to the best cave in Ha Long bay, Surprising cave before a short walk on a beach from which you can do a moderate exercise by taking four hundred steps to reach island’s top for panoramic view of the bay. Enjoy your dinner and overnight on board. Note: Cruise itinerary and schedule are subject to change due to weather, tide levels and operating conditions. Unused services are not subject to a refund.

Keep cruising around the bay for further discoveries of the fantastic natural beauty. Your Brunch is served before disembarking the cruise ship at about noon. Drive back to the airport to take the flight to Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon), the largest city in Vietnam. Overnight in Saigon.

From Ho Chi Minh City, you head south to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta. Upon arrival, you will set out on a boat trip on narrow channels winding through coconut forest. Stop at brick and coconut processing workshops to see how locals make bricks by hand and learn how to make different products from coconuts as well. Then jump on your bike, cycle on village roads through local hamlets or simply drive tuk tuk through rice fields and coconut groves. Keep going by rowing boat on shady palm tree canal and stop for lunch at riverside restaurant. Return to the pier and drive back to Ho Chi Minh city. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

After breakfast at the hotel, drive to Cu Chi, stop en route to visit a rice paper making village, and you will reach Cu Chi Tunnels. After an introductory video, viewing various mantraps, the remains of an American tank and numerous bomb craters, you will spend the next hour exploring the maze of tunnels to see how the Viet Cong survived in this underground network. Afternoon, you will get on the city tour. The War Remnants Museum contains countless arte-facts and photographs documenting said crimes – the killing of civilians, spreading of chemicals, torturing of prisoners, and the effects of the war on the north. At the Reunification Palace, you can visit the “War Room” from where the South Vietnamese forces were controlled, and the room where the North Vietnamese army finally took control in the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Built between 1877 and 1883, most materials for the Notre Dame Cathedral were imported from France. Neo-Romanesque in form, it is a major centre of Catholicism in modern Vietnam, the Saigon Central Post Office, a classic French colonial structure, is still a functioning post office today. Overnight in Saigon.

After your final breakfast in Vietnam, you are free to do some last minute shopping and exploring before transferring to the airport for your flight home. Tour ends.