16 Days Vietnam Discovery Tour from Hanoi to Ho Ho Chi Minh

Day 1 : Arrival Hanoi (D )
Pick up at the airport and then transfer to the hotel by private car with English speaking guide. Free time. Dinner and Overnight at hotel in Hanoi.

Day 2 : Hanoi city tour ( B, L )

AM: Getting started from your hotel at 8.00 AM, driving to visit Ho Chi Minh complex, including Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum – the final resting place of the Vietnamese great father or uncle Ho, President Ho Chi Minh’s stilt House – where he lived on and off from 1958 to 1969, the next place to move to is One Pillar Pagoda – a group of structures consisting of a pagoda and a tower built in the middle of a square lake. Leave One Pillar Pagoda and transfer to West Lake, visit Tran Quoc pagoda. Having lunch.
PM: After lunch, you will be transferred to visit the Temple of literature. Continue to visit Museum of Ethnology – the most interesting museum in Hanoi with many different things relating the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups. After that, you will visit HoanKiem Lake (Restore Sword Lake). See water puppet show then  coming back hotel. Night in Hanoi .

Day 3: Hanoi –Mai Chau  B, L, D )

Morning: 7.30 am departure to Mai Chau. On the way to Mai chau, pay a Visit to Hang Pagoda (Ancient Cave pagoda) to enjoy a peaceful scenarios and to get a more understanding of the most popular religion – Buddismn. Visiting a Muong ethnic minority village to see stilt-house and their lives. 12.30 am lunch at restaurant.
Afternoon: 1.30 pm drive to MalChau. Homestay 0vernight stilt house – Lac village (Mai Chau guesthouse). Go shopping around Lac Village. Walking throughout some White Thai villages to see people making traditional dress and stools.  Dinner  and overnight at stilthouse.  ( Optional – Mai Chau Hideway ) http://www.maichauhideaway.com/

Day 4: Mai Chau – NinhBinh  ( B, L )
Am : Breakfast. Short walk to the Muong minority village. Walking through plum & peach gardens to contemplate peaceful scenery. 12.30 am lunch at village then transfer to Ninh Binh, Check in Hotel and Night in Ninh Binh.

Day 5 : Ninh Binh – Halong  ( B, L )

AM : Boat trip to visit TamCoc to see the beauty of the karst formations as you pass along their base and row into one of the many caves carved through the limestone.  Then visit Bai Dinh Pagoda.
Pm: transfer to Halong, check in Hotel and Night in Halong.

Day 6 :Halong – Hanoi  – Hue ( B, L ) ( Night train – Soft sleeper)

AM: breakfast then transfer to boat station, embark a day trip boat for a cruise on Halong Bay. Fresh seafood lunch is served on board while cruising among hundreds of islets to discover unspoilt pockets of Halong Bay.
The boat stops for a visit to the Halong Bay’s largest cave of Sung Sot (Amazing Cave).
After the visit,– Make a stop at Titop Island where you can enjoy a swim or climbing to the top of the mountain for panoramic view of Halong Bay and wondferful photo shoots.
Pm: transfer back Haoi .Late this afternoon we catch the train to the old imperial city of Hue. Overnight on train – soft sleeper first class. SE1 at 19h30 pm.

Day 7 : Visit Hue ( Lunch  )

Arriving in Hue at around 9:00 a.m. Pick up and transfer to hotel.
Then, the driver and guide will take you to the boat landing on the river to make a trip on Perfume river for visiting Thien Mu pagoda. Along the river on dragon boat you will enjoy the tranquil feeling with two sides of green banks’ river and see the daily life of local people.  Have break for having lunch at restaurant.
This afternoon you will continue to visit the mausoleums of Nguyen’s Kings like Tu Duc tomb,  AndKhai dinh tomb, are back hotel around 5.00 pm. Overnight at hotel in Hue.

Day 8 : Hue – Hoi An ( B, L)

Breakfast then  you will be transferred back Hue city centre to visit the Imperial Citadel where Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945 with numerous of attractive places to see like Flag Tower, Noon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, and Forbidden Purple City. Thai Hoa Palace. Transfer to Hoian . Spend time in LangCo beach enroute, taking photograph from HaiVan Pass ( The pass of Sea and Cloud). Cham Museum in Danangthen  visit Marble Mountain and enjoying sea/sun bathing in DaNang beach. Arrive Hoian. Overnight in Hoian.

Day 9 : Hoi An old town  ( B, L )

In the morning, We will arrange a boad trip on Thu Bon River to visit handicraft villages ( Thanh Ha pottery village, Kim Bong carpentry village). Continue to visit Lantern village . Here you will have a brief introduction into the history, shape, and color of the lanterns, as well as the many stages of making them. You can make your own lantern and keep it as a souvenir.
Continue half day to explore Hoian town: the Japanese Covered Bridge-the symbol of Hoian. Step back in time to discover the Chinese street with stunning PhucKien Hall and Phung Hung old house typical of Hoian original architecture. We then visit Hoi An vibrant market and ancient port to explore the rythm of local daily life and savor the true color, flavor and taste of the oriental. Finally, we visit Phuc Thanh Pagoda – the oldest pagoda in Hoi An built in 1454 with Chinese bonze. Drop off at hotel. Night in Hoi An

Day 10 :Hoian – Danang – Nha Trang ( B, L ) ( Flight )
Being transfered to the airport for the flight to the Beach City of Nha Trang. Pick up and transfer to hotel in Nhatrang. Short visit to the Ponagarcham Tower, LongSonpagoda . Relax and free time at the beach. Overnight at hotel.

Day 11 : Nha Trang ( B, L )

Start from your hotel to Cau Da port. Tri Nguyen Aquarium on Mieu Island is the first place to visit, many sea species of Nha Trang/KhanhHoa province make a small ocean world there. Mun Island is the best island for snorkeling where you can see lots of lives colorful corals and fish. You will also be able to see caves in which the sea swallows make their nest.Then relaxing, swimming & doing water sports or other activities at Mot Island, Tranh Beach Island or on a small island calling “Mini beach”. Taking a fresh lunch at the island. On the way back you will visit a fishing village before going to the shore. Night in Nha Trang

Day 12:Nhatrang -Dalat (B,L )

After breakfast, leave NhaTrang for Dalat – the charmng city in Highland. The natural beauty also inspired Vietnam’s last emperor, Bao Dai, to build a summer home in Dalat in 1933. this original golf course has been redesigned and expanded to a plush 18-hole course, which consistently earns high ranks from international sporting magazines and draws golfers from all over Asia.
While some of the colonial mansions have been beautifully restored, others remain neglected, and the sight of these majestic villas, their roofs covered in moss and their tennis courts choked with weeds, lends the town a poignant air of faded elegance.
The landway from Nha trang – Dalat  (around 150 km ) is very sightworthy and photogenic with pinewoods, waterfalls, farms of tea and coffee, and “Picturesque” mountain pass (“Bellevue Pass” as named by the French early 20th century!)
On arrival. Visiting the waterfall of Datanla, one of the most beautiful and imposing falls in Lam Dong and Truc Lam Zen Monastery on Phoenix Mountain, one of the most beautiful temples in Vietnam. Overnight in Dalat.

Day 13: Dalat -Saigon (B,L ) 

Am :You visit  the City Flower Garden for tourists to contemplate the glorious beauty of various types of flowers there then visit  Former Palace of Emperor Bao Dai – The last Emperor of Vietnam. Lunch. Afternoon, transfer to Saigon . You will pass through many immense coffee farms and rubber forests to reach Saigon. Arrive Saigon in late afternoon.
Saigon-Hochiminh city is famous, called “Little Paris” during the French War an“The pear of the Far-East” during US war.
Check in Hotel. Free and easy and Overnight in Saigon.

Day 14: Half day city tour – Cuchi (B,L)

8h00 am. Our tour guide will pick you up at your hotel. Depart from Saigon to Cu Chi tunnels (about 50km). As you know, CuChi tunnels is one of the most famous historical Vestiges of Vietnam’s national liberation War. It is network consists of over 200km of tunnels linked to the other like a Cobweb. You go to inside the tunnels which has the kitchens, food and ammunition storage caches, medic-care chambers (a small clinic), meeting room, commanding chambers ..etc. You discover the tunnels by entering inside on it, about 15 m, 30m, 60m and 100m long belong to your health. At the end of the tunnels, you can eat Cassava (called KhoaiMi), this is the main food for Vietcong people during the war.
Say goodbye the Cu Chi tunnels, it takes you by car about one and a half  hour to back Saigon . You have lunch in nice restaurant.
Pm: After lunch. You will take city tour to visit  Saigon-Hochiminh city:
Your visits:
Notre Dame Catheral, built between 1877 and 1883 by French, most of the materials were transferred from Marseille (France). Next to the Church, you walk to visit the Central Post Office, built 1886 and ended 1891 by Gustave Eiffel. Your next destination is Reunification Palace which was built in 1868, named Norodom Palace and inaugurated in 1873. In 1963, this palace was heavily destroyed by bombs. On 30 April 1975, the tanks of the liberation army entered Independence Palace. After the liberation, Independence Palace became the headquarters of the City’s military Administration Committee.
And then You can discover the activities war during US war by visiting. The War Museum in which is an interesting collection of American Weapons.
At the end of your tour with stop at Ben Thanh market, the goods in here are abundant, including almost all-domestic products. Night at Hotel.

Day 15 : Mekong Delta – Ben tre  (B, L)

8h00 am, Pick up at your hotel, transfer to ben tre,
On arrival in Hùngvương Pier (Bến Tre town).Take a boat on Bến Tre river – one of tributaries of Mekong river, Sight-seeing  lively activities along river as fishing,watertransfering……. Stop at brickwork to see how to make bricks in handy traditional style by printing and baking. Visite one of plenty of coconut processing worshops located along canal. Turn on natural scissors creeks where they look smaller and smaller to go to village. Take a walk to family workshop making sleepmats and enjoying some fruits and tea.
Take a motor cart (xelôi) or cycle riding under tree shades, pass by green rice fields and vegetable plains to be able to touch on realy life and find out  about tropical culture from Peasants. Lunch at restaurant riverside.
Afternoon –  Take rowing-boat along water palm creek. and  boat back to HùngVương Pier. Pick up and transfer back Saigon.

Day 16 : Ho Chi Minh ( B )
Free time until transfer you to the airport for your flight out of Vietnam. End tour.