Your trip begins with your arrival in Vietnam. Your private driver will meet and greet you at the airport. You will be escorted to the hotel by private transportation. Check-in to the hotel and get over the jet lag. You can mooch through the streets of the city. Historic charm, architectural marvels, and various products are splashed all over this area.
After enjoying the first day yourself and return to the hotel for a relaxing sleep.
9:00 AM – we start the tour at Nguyen Thien Thuat backstreet – The Lively Saigon. You will pass through one of the typical streets of the city with constructions dating back to the 1960s. Along the street are many Vietnamese guitar makers’ stores. Some of them are really of high quality. There are also many interesting eateries. Mass residential apartment buildings are on the back street. Walking around here gives you an idea of how lively Saigon is. Street Photography is highly recommended. The walk starts from Nguyen Thien Thuat street and ends at Ban Co market. You are invited to try Vietnamese beautiful “chè” (desserts made of beans and sticky rice and coconut milk).
10:00 AM – Keep on to District 10 and 5 to stroll through more typical residential apartment buildings. Again, you will witness Saigon unique lifestyles on the streets with shops, street food stands and rickshaws passing by.
11:30 AM – Walk along Hai Thuong Lan Ong & Trieu Quang Phuc streets – the traditional medicine streets in China Town. This is an area concentrated with traditional clinics and medicine herb stores. Walking along the streets, you can smell the herbs and watch the shop owners do their business. Visit Thien Hau Temple (a temple where Chinese people worship Heavenly Queen – an important god in their culture).
12:00 noon – Go to a local restaurant for lunch then come back to hotel around 1:00 pm.
(start 7.20 am – return around 17.30 )
7:20 am Pick up from the hotel.
Kick start your day with a hearty breakfast and a trip to Mekong Delta follows, depart for My Tho, the town that lies on the left side of the Mekong River. Boarding the sampan and cruising down the river around the four beautiful islands known as Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Tortoise islands.
Stop over at Unicorn Island, go walking around the country lane and see orchards, and enjoy tropical fruits, and folk song music performed by the local people. Visit the fruit plantation.
Riding a hand-rowed sampan through Thoi Son canal and treat yourself to the beauty of the countryside, visit the family business, visit a honey-bee farm, and enjoy a honey tea and coconut candy workshop.
Have lunch at a local restaurant. Break time.
In the afternoon, time for cycling around the Tan Thach village, and meet the local villagers to experience the local daily life in the Mekong delta. Hammock relaxing and enjoy the cool breeze for those who can’t join the cycling trip. Return to Ho Chi Minh.
Have breakfast at the hotel, have some free leisure time until there will be a private cab to transfer you to the airport, and be ready for the next flight to Hoi An.
Our Hoi An food tour starts around sunset and will walk you through local cafes, food stalls, markets, and restaurants, giving you a filling food adventure for the memory books.
First up – is a local bakery that has been making the tastiest banh mi in town for over 20 years. They use the freshest local ingredients and are famous for their banh mi, a scrumptious sandwich that will fire up your taste buds and get them ready for the flavors ahead!
From one local fave to another, next, we’ll join locals at a small eatery, taking a seat on the ubiquitous small plastic chairs and sampling tasty BBQ pork rolled with rice paper and fresh herbs. Served with typical soya dipping sauce, this dish is one of the highlights of the local food scene and an absolute must-devour.
Our food tour of Hoi An continues into the atmospheric heart of the city as we head straight for the central market. What awaits us there are hundreds of street hawkers and food stalls selling a staggering array of local produce, including fresh noodles, sweet jelly, seasonal fruits, and live seafood. Your knowledgeable local guide will walk you through the colourful array of ingredients, filling you in on the most popular dishes in Hoi An and the significance of these foods to the traditional culture of central Vietnam.
Breakfast at the hotel. Then, taking the flight to Hanoi. Check-in your hotel and free at your leisure time to get your energy back.
17h45: Pick up at your hotel
18h00: Introduce the itinerary of the tour and drive around 36 old streets in the old quarter to enjoy different kinds of street foods
19h30: Crossing over Ho Chi Minh Complex for sightseeing with overstepping by the side of the west lake to enjoy street food and drink
20h15: Riding past Long Bien Bridge for sightseeing and taking pictures. Continue riding around the old quarter of Hanoi with overstepping at Opera house, Metropole Legend Hotel, Hoan Kiem Lake, Big Church.
21h20: Drive to local Coffee to enjoy local life & drink.
In the morning, check-out from the hotel and get pick-up by the Cruise. Take a route most scenic to reach Halong Bay, taking you across the Red River Delta with emerald green rice paddies stretching for as far as the eyes can see. On arrival at Halong, you get to enjoy a cruise on the Bay to better explore the limestone rocks and the karst grottoes.
After you are done with your exploration of the bay, it is time to enjoy an utterly delicious seafood lunch, after which a trip to the famous limestone cave in Ha Long Bay, you’ll get to spend some time here, kayaking or swimming, so that you can get closer to the floating villages and shops. Towards the evening, you will return to the boat for an early dinner, followed by some time at leisure. You can opt to attend the activities taking part in the boat or relax for the day.
Overnight on cruise.
Rise early for a lesson in Tai Chi or just to enjoy a hearty breakfast. The boat will make its way back to the port stopping at the Limestone Cave, full of stalagmites and stalactites. From here, it’s clear sailing back to the main harbor and the return to Hanoi around 17:00. Free at your leisure time.
Overnight in Hanoi.
Relish a healthy breakfast on the final day of your trip. Complete the hotel check-out formalities after which you can visit the local markets and buy souvenirs for your loved ones. Later, proceed for departure and board your flight back home.
Trip Ends.
