Trip Name: Spirit of Vietnam north bound 11 days
Type of trip: Private
Trip Duration: 11 Days
Starting: Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam
Finishing: Hanoi capital city, Vietnam
Trip Grading: Regular itinerary, moderate walking
Destinations: Saigon – Mekong – Cu Chi - Hoi An – Hanoi – Ha Long
Flexibility: This sample itinerary can be amended accordingly to meet your expectation.
Highlights: This 11 day trip provides a quick glance of Vietnam highlights including Saigon, Mekong delta, Hoi An, Hanoi, Ha Long. In this trip you will visit the modern Saigon largest city of Vietnam, boat trip in Mekong delta, the ancient town Hoi An, the 1000 year old Hanoi capital and the mystical Halong Bay
Brief Itinerary:
Day 1: Saigon arrival - transfer to hotel (-/-/-)
Our guide will welcome you after clearing custom, transfer you to the hotel.
Day 2: Saigon – Mekong delta boat trip (B/L/-)
Full day exploring the vast Mekong river
Day 3: Saigon – Half day Cu Chi – Half day city tour (B/L/-)
Explore the maze of underground Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong stayed and mount surprise attacks and enjoy a half day city tour of Saigon highlights.
Day 4: Saigon – Hoi An (B/-/-)
Transfer to internal flight to Da Nang flight details TBA. Rest of day free
Day 5: Hoi An City tour (B/-/-)
Spending a half day for exploring Hoi An town.
Day 6: Hoi An (B/-/-)
Today you are free at leisure or explore the city on your own.
Day 7: Hoi An – Hanoi (B/-/-)
Transfer to internal flight to Hanoi. Being met you at the airport and transfer to your hotel.
Day 8: Hanoi City tour (B/L/-)
Enjoy full day features the most highlights of Hanoi.
Day 9: Hanoi – Ha Long (Overnight on Junk) (B/L/D)
Travel to Halong bay by private comfortable transportation, enjoy overnight on cruise.
Day 10: Ha Long – Hanoi (B, L)
Sightseeing Ha Long bay and transfer back to Hanoi
Day 11: Hanoi depart (B/-/-)
Being transferred to Hanoi airport for boarding your flight back to home. Trip end!
Did you know: Asia Top Travel is an authorized ticketing agency. We can organize your additional domestic flight tickets, and any additional accommodation.
Day 1: Saigon arrival - transfer to hotel (-/-/-)
Upon arrival to Ho Chi Minh city airport, our guide will welcome you after clearing custom, transfer you to the hotel for check in. The rest of the day you are free at leisure.
Meals: None
Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon
Day 2: Saigon – Mekong delta boat trip (B/L/-)
Today, escaping from the high-rise hotels, shopping malls and chic restaurants of Ho Chi Minh City, we drive to My Tho with paddy fields, thick orchards and canals. Upon arriving, we board a private boat start exploring the vast Mekong River. We will pass by the floating market, Fish Quay along the water way to Turtle Island, a beautiful island with many orchards. Here we can enjoy a variety of fresh tropical fruits while listening to traditional South Vietnamese folk songs performed by local artists. We then visit a coconut candy workshop before taking a short horse cart ride to visit a Bee Farm where we try some honey tea, tastes local confectionery. After that, we will have a short rowing sampan boat ride along the water coconut shady canal to our main boat then go to Phoenix Island that was the lonely bastion of Coconut Monk. Here we enjoy lunch of local cuisines with delicious Elephant Ear fish, before go back to the harbor. Drive back to Ho Chi Minh by late afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon
Day 3: Saigon – Half day Cu Chi – Half day city tour (B/L/-)
This morning, we leave Saigon for driving through pleasant countryside before arriving at Cu Chi. We then spend the next hours exploring the maze of underground tunnels where the Viet Cong stayed and mount surprise attacks. Also on display are various mantraps and the remains of an American tank as well as numerous bomb craters made by B52 bombers. Cu Chi was really a former battlefield. After that, we drive back to Ho Chi Minh city.
Today we have scheduled a special lunch for your taste of Saigon cuisines at a popular local restaurant in Saigon.
After lunch, you enjoy a half day city tour of Saigon highlights. This half day tour features the Notre Dame Cathedral church that was built between 1877 and 1883. This church is one of the best examples of classical French colonial architecture. The nearby Old Saigon Post Office is another example of French colonial architecture and is also the country’s largest post office. Then, we move on to see the Reunification Palace. This was one of the most important buildings in the city. Here on April 30th 1975 the ‘American War’ officially ended when tank number 843 of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates of what was, at the time the residence of the President of the Republic of Vietnam. After that, we continue to visit War Remnants Museum - Formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, this is a poignant display of the futility of war.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon
Day 4: Sai Gon – Hoi An (B/-/-)
Transfer to internal flight to Da Nang flight details TBA. Rest of day free
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An
Day 5: Hoi An City tour (B/-/-)
Today we spend a half day for exploring Hoi An town. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Hoi An was a thriving international commercial port for Chinese, Dutch, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Arab merchants. These people came primarily to trade in the high grade silk, which is still produced in the area, as well as ceramics. Today, Hoi An is a quaint riverside town, popular with tourists for its eclectic architecture, tailors shops, and numerous cafes. Some of the buildings in the narrow streets have remained unchanged for more than a century. We enjoy a half-day walking tour through the narrow winding streets of the Ancient Quarter visiting Chua Ong Pagoda, Chinese Assembly Halls, the 200- year old Tan Ky ancestral house and the Japanese covered Bridge. Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An
Day 6: Hoi An (B/-/-)
Today you are free at leisure or explore the city on your own.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An
Day 7: Hoi An – Ha Noi (B/-/-)
Transfer to internal flight to Honoi. Upon arriving in Hanoi, our tour guide will meet you at the airport and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is time at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Day 8: Hanoi City tour (B/L/-)
Today features the most highlights of Hanoi including Ho Chi Minh Complex, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, His House-on-Stilts, One Pillar pagoda…
You enjoy an hour Cyclo Tour through the Old Quarter of Hanoi, heading to Ho Chi Minh complex, the old quarter is also known as the 36 streets and guilds, this bustling area of narrow streets is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. Originally each of the street’s names was related to the products being sold there.
After that we will visit the Temple of Literature - a temple to Confucius, this is also known as Vietnam’s first University dating back to 1070.
Lunch today features the best known authentic local cuisines of Hanoi Noodle soup with beef, Pho Bo at the most famous Pho eatery in Hanoi, and the best Bun Cha Hanoi, also known as Noodle with grilled pork serving with delicious special Hanoi spring roll serving with Hanoi local cold beer.
After having lunch you enjoy a drive out to the outskirt of Hanoi to visit Museum of Ethnology, widely acknowledged as the best museum in the country and it has an extensive display dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic minority peoples. As well as the comprehensive array of exhibits inside, there are also traditional tribal houses reconstructed within the ground. Then, we go back to the centre of Hanoi to visit Ngoc Son Temple and Hoan Kiem Lake. If time permit, enjoy a walking tour through the old quarter to explore the old town on foot with numerous shops and photo opportunities.
At the end of the day, you can enjoy the famous traditional water puppetry show in Thang Long Theatre where you will have a chance to experience an overview of daily life in Vietnam's rural areas in dramatic form.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Day 9: Hanoi – Ha Long (Overnight on Junk) (B/L/D)
08h00 – 08h30 Pick-up at hotel and start the 3 hour-and-a-half drive to Halong Bay
12h00 – 12h30 Embark on Calypso Cruiser followed by cruise briefing
13h00 – 15h30 Savor a delectable lunch as Calypso Cruiser cruise further along the limestone islands of Fighting Cock, Dog Rock and Incense Burner, to name a few
15h30 – 17h30 Visit Amazing Cave
17h30 – 19h00 Stop at Titop Beach. Go swimming, snap photos the overview of Halong Bay
19h00 Enjoy dinner. Partying, fishing or just lazing. O/n on board.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight on boat
Day 10: Ha Long – Hanoi
Sunrise breakfast and cruise around the clear & emerald water to another part of Halong bay with a close up view of stunning limestone peaks. such as Drum cave , Man's head Islet….Heading to Van Gia fishing village, you will have the opportunity to understand more about the fishermen's daily life. Having lunch on board with a variety of local foods, enjoying the rest of the boat trip returning to Halong dock. Return to Hanoi at around 4h00 pm. Check into Maison D’Hanoi and enjoy your time at leisure.
Meals: Brunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Day 11: Hanoi depart (B/-/-)
Today you are free at leisure until being transferred to Hanoi airport for boarding your flight back to home. Trip end!
Meals: Breakfast