Relaxing Trip At Vietnam In 18 Days

Today you will visit the most beautiful places in Hanoi accompanied by an English-speaking guide. In the morning you will visit the square where the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh is located, One Pillar Pagoda, West Lake, the war museum and the Tran Quoc Temple. In the afternoon you take a walk through the District of the Guilds and take a look at the Ngoc son temple. Near the lake is the famous 'Water Puppet Theater' where you can watch a performance of Vietnamese puppetry. During the performance, the puppets are moved by sticks and cables across the water surface moved from behind a curtain. The actors leading the wooden painted figures stand up to their bellies in water. The plays are often about village figures or historical events. The story is accompanied by musical instruments such as a flute or lute.

Breakfast - take a drive on a countryside road through the paddy fields to Ha Long Bay, one of New Seven Natural Wonders. Upon arrival at the harbor, you will board a traditional boat – set sail through the limestone islands and have a seafood lunch – visit the most impressive cave of Sung Sot before making a stop off at a nice beach for a swim – return to the boat and attend a short cooking class – time to rest on the upper deck at sunset – enjoy your dinner. The rest of the day is your leisure. Why not play cards, try your luck at fishing, watch movies or simply enjoy some drinks and chat with your friends at the bar on board.

Up early – top deck – Tai Chi – enjoy your light breakfast while cruising further into the impressive bay – stop off for a visit to Trinh Nu area by kayak – return to the boat – time for a break, drinks on the top deck – lunch while the boat is moving towards Cua Van fishing village – take a sampan ride to visit Cua Van floating village – return to the boat and attend a short cooking class – time for a rest and drinks during Happy Hour Time before your dinner – the rest of the day is yours

Up early – top deck – Tai Chi - light breakfast – disembark for an easy exploration of the cave by kayak – return to your boat - check out your cabins – enjoy a nice brunch while sailing back to land – transfer to Hon Gai market – wander around the market for an overview – board your car and head to Ninh Binh.

After 4 hour drive, you will reach Ninh Binh – check in hotel. The rest of day is yours.

Have breakfast at hotel and check out the room.

Today you will explore Ninh Binh - visit the ancient capital of Vietnam from 968 AD to 1010 AD during the Dinh and early Le Dynasties. You’ll visit two small temples of the Kings, each of which is nearly a thousand years old. You continue to explore Tam Coc caves by a traditional boat rowing among the limestone mountains... you may need to prepare a hat, sun cream, and camera to shoot some memory pictures of the trip. After the boat trip, you will visit Bich Dong pagoda – climb up to the top of mountain and see the panoramic view – enjoy the fresh air and taking the memorable photos.

Later, you will get the car for 3.5 hour drive to Mai Chau – check in homestay. Have dinner at the host and enjoy the traditional dance and Can wine with the local people. Stay overnight in Mai Chau.

Wake up early - have simple breakfast at the family host. Then, you will get the bike to explore surroundings. You can find farmers working in fields, local wearing scarves and visit surrounding peaceful villages. Trek through terraced rice paddies and small villages, discovering the natural beauty of the valley and encountering the culture of the ethnic minority Thai people on our visits to the “Pom Coong” villages.

Then, you will get the car drive back Hanoi airport for flight to Dong Hoi

Arrival at Dong Hoi airport, you will be picked up and escorted to hotel. Stay overnight in Dong Hoi

Have breakfast at your hotel.

Depart for a full day excursion to Phong Nha Caves to discover an exceptional site listed as a World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The Phong Nha plateau is probably one of the finest and most remarkable examples of a complex karsts landscape in Southeast Asia. It shelters some of the largest natural caves in the world.

From there, depart by boat for about 40mn cruise on the river before reaching Uot cave’s entrance. Continue the visit on foot.

End the day with the visit at Paradise cave which is a newly discovered cave in Vietnam and considered as the largest complex of caves in the world. The whole length of the cave is 31 km long but only 900m is opened to the public.

Return to hotel in the late afternoon. Stay overnight in Dong Hoi.

After breakfast at your hotel, depart Dong Hoi for Hue through the former DMZ with Ben Hai river & Hien Luong Bridge.

Continue to Quang Tri town to discover the ancient citadel of Quang Tri, located about 12 km from Dong Ha. During the Vietnam War, the city received the equivalent of eight atomic bombs with the strength of the one sent to Hiroshima. The citadel was also marked by a historic 81-day battle in 1972. Then, continue by road to Dong Hoi by road No 1. On the way stop to visit Vinh Moc Tunnels and the underground village at the northern part of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).

After lunch time (on your own expense), proceed to Hue, around 60 km South of Quang Tri town.

On arrival at Hue, check in at your hotel and free at leisure.

Dinner and overnight in Hue.

After breakfast you will be picked up by the English-speaking guide for a city tour through this romantic and former capital, which was heavily destroyed during the Vietnam War. You will visit this beautiful city with many bridges, lakes and canals. You will visit the great citadel, Kinh Thanh, the forbidden purple city, the Ngo Mon Gate, the cannons of the 9 gods and the Thai Hoa palace, which is the most important government building in the imperial city. Later, you will get the car to visit Minh Mang tomb. If time permits, you will visit incense stick and conical hat making villages. Stay overnight in Hue.

Depart from your hotel embarking on boat for cruise along the poetic Perfume River you will contemplate the beauty of landscapes with fresh air of this river. Main destination of our journey is Thien Mu Pagoda (Heavenly Lady Pagoda) which was built in 1601 - the symbol pagoda of Hue city.

Continue your trip, biking around the village which is called Thuy Bieu. That is a wonderland of pomelo which possesses a very special taste and fragrance in Vietnam, especially in Hue. While biking, you take a short stop in schools, communal houses, ancient temples and especially the garden house - Its housing architecture is typical of Hue and the Nguyen dynasty with small cottages hidden in large luxuriant gardens, long gates and fences carved out of ornamental trees.

After that, you will transfer back hotel. The rest of day is yours.

Stay overnight in Hue.

After breakfast, depart from Hue to Hoi An with the English-speaking guide. You drive along the spectacular Hai Van Pas, also called the cloud pass, as the road winds through the coastal mountains and passes terrifying precipices. During this ride you also cross the former border between North and South Vietnam. Along the way you will be able to enjoy beautiful views and you will visit the "Marble Mountains", a rock formation full of sacred caves with Buddhist statues, the Cham Sculpture Museum in Danang. During the day you will arrive in picturesque Hoi An with its French colonial houses and mystical Asian bridges.

Arrival Hoian, check in hotel. The rest of day is yours.

Hoi An is one of the major attractions of Central Vietnam, located in a picturesque place on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Here you will find a mix of Chinese, Japanese, French and Vietnamese architectural styles, usually combined in one home: Chinese roof tiles, French balconies and shutters, Japanese beams and a Vietnamese living layout. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This morning you will take a city walk through the old quarter, the west and the Japanese quarter accompanied by an English-speaking guide. You will visit the Japanese covered bridge, the Chinese community hall Chaozhou or Hainan, the Phung Hung house, the Tan Ky house with its antique furniture and the history museum.

Fly to Ho Chi Minh City, a cosmopolitan, hectic French-feeling city that has developed into the economic center of the country. Together with the guide you can make a city tour where you can see the most important sights such as the former embassy of the United States, the Reufication hall = the Palace of Reunification, the main post office, Dong Khoi street, the Rex hotel from where during the war press conferences were held every day, it was also the headquarters of the US Intelligence Service, Municipal Theater, City Hall, Notre Dam Cathedral, Chinatown and the lively Ben Thanh market.

Have breakfast at hotel. Your full day tour start:

• Drive away the noise of city life to reach Tam vu - the kingdom of dragon fruits plantation. We may stop at any garden on way and enjoy a special kind of dragon fruit- the red one
• The busy market with colorful flowers and fruits and vegetables, catfish, turtle...will give you a wonderful photo for countryside life
• Not only dragon fruits but also rice, corn, chili field on way down a ferry station will bring you to another picture of mekong delta
• Hop on a bike (or motobike) to get on a green island full of coconut and sour-sop. Let stop at a local how to see what do they do with coconut, water hyercinth weaving, brooms and coconut leaf roof made
• Let try a new taste with cool cannal by a sampan
• Lunch will be in a coconut garden with great hospitality from the host

Afternoon, you will drive to Can Tho city for overnight.

Set off early - wake up for photographic opportunities at sunrise - board a sampan to visit Cai Rang floating market, fruit gardens and cottage industries – return by boat to your hotel – time for rest and breakfast. Later you will get the car drive back Ho Chi MinH. On the way, you will stop visiting Vinh Trang Pagoda – one of the beautiful pagodas in Mekong Delta. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh.