Tour overview
From Hanoi to the Mekong Delta, a complete trip through the most beautiful sites of the country with steps off the beaten track to meet the local people. Halong Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin, the whole sector in limestone scenery in Ninh Binh, ethnic minorities of Mai Chau, the rural life of the Red River Delta, the monuments of Hue, the charming Hoi An and exoticism of the Mekong Delta with floating markets ...
With the extension to Siem Reap, you will have a general view on the history and the grandeur of Angkor temples before exploring the largest freshwater lake in South Asia: the Tonle Sap. discovery.
Highlights of the tour
- Nights on board a boat in Halong Bay and the Mekong River
- Meetings with ethnic Muong and White Thai in Mai Chau
- Immersion in rural life in North
- Floating Market and aquatic life in the Mekong Delta
- The most beautiful sites in the country
- Visit the most beautiful temples of Angkor
- Down the Mekong River by boat - fishing villages on the Tonle Sap
Itinerary
|
Day
|
Itinerary
|
Meal
|
Accompaniment
|
|
Day 1
|
Hanoi arrival
|
D
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 2
|
Hanoivisit
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 3
|
Hanoï – Mai Chau valley
|
B,L,D
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 4
|
Mai Chau – Thung Nham – Tam Coc
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 5
|
Tam Coc – Phat Diem – Tam Coc
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 6
|
Tam Coc – Ha Long bay
|
B,L,D
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 7
|
Ha Long – Ha Noi – Flight to Hue
|
B
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 8
|
Hue visit
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 9
|
Hue – Da Nang – Hoi An
|
B
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 10
|
Hoi An discovery
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 11
|
Hoi An – Da Nang – Sai Gon
|
B
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 12
|
Sai Gon – Ben Tre – Sai Gon
|
B,L,D
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 13
|
Sai Gon – flight to Siem Reap
|
B,L
|
Guide & Driver
|
|
Day 14
|
Siem Reap – Angkor Wat – Angkor Thom
|
B
|
Driver
|
|
Day 15
|
Siem Reap - Banteay Srei - PreahKhan - Meak Péan
|
|
|
Day 1
Ha Noi arrival
Transfert: (30 km - 45 minutes)
Arrival at Hanoi airport by your morning flight. Welcome by your guide and transfer to the hotel in the center of the city. Installation at the hotel and free time to relax until 3:00 p.m.
The end of the afternoon is spent for a short tour of the Vietnamese capital by tramway. You will discover a city of poetry, a market town, a city that will amaze you with the lives of its inhabitants, a city toggling between tradition and modernity.
Return to your hotel after a stop at Hoan Kiem Lake, in the heart of Hanoi. Visit Ngoc Son temple located on the shores of the lake. Overnight at hotel.
Day 2
Ha Noi visit
Start your day of exploring Hanoi with a walk in the gardens of the former Palace of the Governorof Indochina, now become the Presidential Palace. Discover the One Pillar Pagoda on stilts of Ho Chi Minh, the founder of modern Vietnam, and the inside of his Mausoleum (except Monday and Friday when visiting the interior is impossible).
You can also visit the pagoda Tran Quoc at the edge of the large Lake (West Lake), and the Museum of Ethnography, which offers a way of life, customs and habits of the 54 ethnic minorities populating Vietnam.
In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, the first national university in the original architecture built in the eleventh century and now dedicated to the worship of Confucius and the Scholars. This Temple has become the symbol of Hanoi and the Vietnamese Culture.
In the evening, you will enjoy a puppet show on the water, folk art of the peoples in the Red River Delta. Overnight at hotel
Day 3
Ha Noi – Mai Chau
Transfer: 170 km – 4 hours
Walking without elevation - 1:30
Morning departure from Hanoi to Mai Chau, homeland of ethnic Muong and Thai. Few stops along the way to visit the tea fields, Luong Son market, ethnic villages with their houses on stilts. Arrived in early afternoon Mai Chau after a good stretch of road that winds, which rises and falls of the great mountains. Lunch in a thai family in the village of Ban Lac.
In the afternoon, visit of Ban Lac and a stroll walk through different villages inhabited by Thai and located at the foot of the mountains.
Check in a beautiful wooden house on stilts. Meeting with the hosts. Dinner and overnight homestay (house equipped with mattresses, mosquito net and a shower with hot water).
Day 4
Mai Chau – Thung Nham – Tam Coc
Transfer:170 km, 4 hours
Breakfast at homestay then transfer to TamCoc (the land Halong Bay) via Nho Quan district.
Arrival in Tam Coc, check in hotel and lunch in local restaurant. Then you take bike from Tam Coc Port to Bich Dong pagoda, visit and take photos for memory.
Upon you arrival the Thung Nham around 16h, you will surprise with a myriad of flowers blooming from the gates of the Valley. You visit the Bird Valley, will find really amazing how the heart of the city of Hoa Lu Town has 1 so peaceful valley like this, with numerous species of birds: egret, cranes and many more.Back to Tam Coc. Overnight in hotel
.jpg)
Day 5
Tam Coc – Phat Diem –Tam Coc
Transfer:40 km, 1 hour
Boat:3 hoursround trip
After breakfast, departure toPhatDiemwhich is a complexof churches builtof stone.The road passesthroughrice fields, small villages dotted withchurchesthat evokethe image of theFrenchcampaignof the 18thcentury.Visit ofPhatDiem cathedral
Thentransferto a typical village in the heart of theRed River Delta, not far from Phat Diem. Visit the village, meetingwith villageandlunch in local house.
In theafternoon,back toTamCoc. Cruisefor 2 hoursin smallboats ontheNgo Dong riverthat windscountlesslimestone peaksenvironment.
Day 6
Tam Coc – Ha Long bay
Transfer:250km –4.5 hours
After breakfast, departure to HalongBay. On arrival around noon, check in a beautiful wooden junk for a cruise enchanting 2 days/ 1 night in Halong Bay.
During this cruise, you can explore this vast chaos of karst mountains, caves, lagoons with all these ghostly shapes that can be seen from far away. It is so nice to feel completely lost and discovering every second new forms of increasingly tormented rocks. In addition, the play of light, clouds and mist creates unexpected atmospheres. It is the same life on the bay with all its fishing boats, whole families who either live in floating houses or aboard simple craft.
In late afternoon, the ship dropped anchor for the night in the bay. It is then possible for you to swim in the emerald sea or kayaking.
The lunch and dinner are served on the junk menu with excellent seafood
Overnight on board the junk in private cabin.
Day 7
Ha Long bay – Ha Noi – flight to Hue
Transfer:250km –4.5 hours
Flight: 1 hour
Morning in the bay, this is a special time for meditation and take a morning bath.
The buffet breakfast is served while the junk starts up slowly towards the pier. The return cruise allows you to discover other parts of the bay, including the Heavenly Palace Cave or the Cave of Surprise.
Landing at 11:30 and taken the road towards Hanoi. Direct transfer to the airport. On the road, visiting a traditional pottery village. This village, which stays away from mass tourism, still keeps the shapes of the oldest villages of the Red River Delta. Evening flight to Hue (flight for about 1:00). Arriving in Hue around 20:00, reception and transfer to your hotel.
Overnight at hotel.
Day 8
Hue visit
Visiting Hue begins in the morning with a visit to the Imperial City of the Nguyen Dynasty (1804-1945). Discover the main monuments of the World Heritage: The Flag Tower, the Porte du Midi, the Pavilion of Edicts, the Palace of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden Purple City ...
After visiting the Imperial City, 1 hour cruise on the Perfume River, a beautiful romantic river which is a source of inspiration for many musical and literary creations of Vietnam. Landing at the foot of the Thien Mu Pagoda, old and original Buddhist monument. Visit the Pagoda before returning to the town for lunch.
The afternoon is reserved to the visit of the royal tomb of Tu Duc, built in the middle of frangipani and pine trees on the plans. Among the many tombs of the Nguyen kings, that of Tu Duc is the roomiest, most beautiful and closer to nature. Being himself a poet, Tu Duc was the architect of his last house he has built a whole philosophy of Oriental life.
Back in town, short stop visiting a village making incense sticks, common worship which, according to Buddhist belief, are used to establish communication between the living world and the afterlife. Overnight at hotel.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Day 9
Hue – Da Nang – Hoi An
Transfer: (110 km – 3.5 hours)
Departure by road to Hoi An, the unique city of Vietnam remained intact to become an invaluable cultural and historical heritage, through the famous clouds col that offers from it top a superb panorama view on the coast of Central Vietnam .
Halfway stop at Danang, colonial Turan to visit for an hour the Cham Museum, which houses a large collection of sculptures of civilization Kingdoms Chams now missing.
Arriving in Hoi An in late morning at the hotel and lunch.
The afternoon is spent on visiting the old part of the city full of charm human scale, with major interests: Fujian dedicated to the patron goddess of fishermen and sailors, and the Japanese bridge built in 1593, between the Chinese and Japanese neighborhoods, the house of Tan Ky, one of the jewels of the hoiannaise architecture, the museum of ceramics; tailor shops...Overnight at hotel in Hoi An
Day 10
Hoi An discovery
Start with a bike ride or by car to Tra Que village, surrounded by a typical rural landscape dotted with coconut palms. You will discover the farmers’ life and have the chance to be introduced to their technical tilling and harvesting vegetables.
Then relax and enjoy a foot massage with medicinal herbs. Then we will guide you to make some traditional dishes of Hoi An. Lunch with tasting of the famous specialty of the village, "Tam Huu" assortment of shrimp, pork and herbs and six other dishes of regional specialties.
Returns in Hoi An in the afternoon. Free afternoon to enjoy the beach of Cua Dai. Overnight at hotel in Hoi An
.jpg)
.jpg)
Day 11
Hoi An – Da Nang – Sai Gon
Flight: 1 hour
After breakfast at hotel, transfer to Danang airport for flight to Sai Gon. Arrival in Saigon, greeted by the guide and the driver of the South
Short tour of the city via the Saigon River, theold colonial district, Ton Duc Thang Avenue, Nguyen Hue Avenue (formerly Charnerbd). Visit the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, Central Post Officeand Ben Thanh Market. Overnight at hotel in Saigon
.jpg)
.jpg)
Day 12
Ho Chi Minh City - Ben Tre – Sai Gon
Transfer: (100 km – 3 hours)
Morning departure for the mythical Mekong Delta where you will board a boat in the town of BenTre. Discover the daily life of the inhabitants of the Delta, their customs and attend the manufacture of bricks and coir. Leave your boat sail towards Cai Son and NhonThanh where local families have specialized in the manufacture of mats. Tasting seasonal fruits. Lunch with the locals. In the afternoon, strollin a rowing boat visit Cai Coi cove and visit by motor boat manufacturing rice. Back to Sai Gon. Overnight in hotel.
Day 13
Sai Gon - Siem Reap - visit the Museum of Angkor
Arrival in Siem Reap airport, you will be picked up and transfer to your hotel. Free time for your leaisure or personal visit
According to the time of your arrival, we will arrange a visit to the museum of Angkor to give you a general view on the civilization and the Khmer art
Buffet Dinner at the local restaurant accompanied by a traditional dancing show of the Khmer: The Apsara dance. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 14
Siem Reap - Angkor Wat - Angkor Thom
Departure in the morning for the visit of the wonderful temple of Angkor Wat, inscribed on the world heritage of humanity by UNESCO. With its soaring towers and its bas-reliefs unique, it is one of the monuments the most extraordinary ever conceived by the human mind, erected in the 12th century in honor of Vishnu. Compared to all the other temples, Angkor Wat is the most famous and the most majestic.
After lunch in town, visit of Angkor Thom starting by the terrace of the Leper King, platform which presents several admirable carved figures of Apsaras emerging out. Your tour continues along the terrace of the Elephants who hosted the pomp of the royal hearings and public ceremonies. Continuation to the south portal with the famous Bayon Temple, the enigmatic and enchanting temple composed of 54 gigantic towers decorated by 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of compassion). On the return path, you will also visit the With Ta Prohm, temple invaded by the jungle and discovered in 1860 by the French explorer Henri Mouhout.Return to your hotel. Free time.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Day 15
Siem Reap - Banteay Srei - PreahKhan - Meak Péan
Transfer: 49km – 1 hour
After breakfast at the hotel, departure for the excursion to Kbal Spean (the river of thousand lingams) 49 km to the north of Angkor. It is of carrres of stone which were used to bless the waters before they arrive at the royal city. The peaceful environment of the place allows you a beautiful promenade
Continuation of visits with the mythical temple of Banteay Srei whose name means: "The citadel of women". This gem of pink sandstone contains remarkable lintels carved in incredible state of conservation.
In the late afternoon, on the way back to Siem Reap, visit the romantic temple Bantey Samre, nicknamed "Angkor Wat thumbnail", of the ancient city of Preah Khan (city of the royal fortune victorious) and Neak Pean, a surprising site built in the 12th century.Return to Siem Reap, overnight in the hotel.
Day 16
Siem Reap - end of the circuit
The morning is reserved to a boat trip on the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia (the level of the water is high between July and November) and the source of life of thousands of fishermen. The tour will allow you to admire the beauty of the lake and discover the villages of fishermen.
Continuation with the visit of the workshops of Chantiers-Ecoles "Artisans of Angkor" which form the Cambodians in the ancient art of stone sculpture, engraving on wood and lacquer polychrome.Return to your hotel or transfer to the airport for departure.
Accommodation:
|
Sites
|
Accommodation
|
Night
|
|
Ha Noi
|
Moonview 2 hotel ***
|
2
|
|
Mai Chau
|
Homestay in Thai family
|
1
|
|
Tam Coc
|
Tam Coc Ecolodge ***
|
2
|
|
Ha Long bay
|
Marguerite Junk
|
1
|
|
Hue
|
Asia hotel ***
|
2
|
|
Hoi An
|
Thuy Duong 3 hotel ***
|
2
|
|
Sai Gon
|
Sapphire hotel ***
|
1
|
|
Siem Reap
|
Royal Empire hotel ***
|
3
|
Tour Price: Available upon Request
Rates vary frequently. Please contact us to get the best possible price based upon your travel period and specific touring needs.
Our services include:
- Accommodation in a shared twin or shared double room
- 2 days/ 1 night cruise on the sharing confortable junk in Ha Long bay
- Meals as mentioned (B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner)
- Air tickets: Ha Noi – Hue, Da Nang – Sai Gon & Sai Gon – Siem Reap economic class, airport tax included
- English speaking guide (for other languages supplements apply)
- Tours and transfers as mentioned by private air conditioned vehicle
- Entrance fees for mentioned visits
- Boat trips as mentioned in the itinerary
Our services do not include:
- Other meals than mentioned
- Other services than mentioned
- Visa fee to Viet Nam
- International Flights
- Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature
- Tips, Travel insurance
English
Français
Russia
