The Best of Vietnam Tour – 11 Nights from Ho Chi Minh

On this full-day program, you’ll depart Ho Chi Minh City at 08:00 for a pleasant drive through the countryside to Cu Chi Tunnels.

Before entering the tunnels you’ll see a short introductory video about their construction. Spend the next hour exploring the tunnel maze. Also on display are various mantraps, the remains of an American tank, and numerous bomb craters created by 500-pound bombs dropped by B52 bombers.

Afterwards, you’ll head back to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving at around 13:00.

In the afternoon your Ho Chi Minh City tour begins with a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old Post Office, fine examples of classical French colonial architecture.

See the Reunification Palace, one of the city’s most important buildings. Here on 30 April 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.

Formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, the War Remnants Museum features poignant displays of the futility of war. The courtyard outside contains the spoils of war, namely rusting jets, tanks, and cannons captured from the American military machine.

Visit the bustling Ben Thanh Market, which is very popular with tourists, primarily due to its central location. It has a wide selection of goods ranging from fake Nike shoes to beautiful silk ao dais, the traditional costume for women.

The tour ends at approximately 18:00 and you’ll be transferred back to your hotel. Note that you have the option of staying on at Ben Thanh Market and making your own way back to the hotel.

Around 08:00, our tour guide picks you up at your hotel lobby, then driving 90Km (2hrs) to Ben Tre. The boat will cruise along the Ham Luong river (a branch of the Mekong) and stop off at various local workplaces including a brick works, a coconut processing workshop and a mat weaving house. The boat will then stop at a quiet village where you can have a short walk to experience real Delta village life and take a bicycle ride through dense coconut plantations. Continue to Can Tho – the heart of Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

Check in on your arrival, free at leisure and overnight in a Can Tho hotel

In the morning, we make the boat cruise to see the Cai Rang floating market (the nicest one with heaps of rowing boats), truly highlights of any Vietnam Tours where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals and later, you will roam through the village to visit a rice husking mill, a rice noodles making shop which are nice chances to discover the daily life of Vietnamese people in Mekong Delta. Around noon, transfer back to the airport for flight to Da Nang.

Upon your arrival at Da Nang airport, pick up and transfer to Hoian for check-in.

Overnight in Hoian.

Spend a day leisurely cycling though the scenic countryside of Vietnam, far from the traffic the motor scooters, and the noises the city. You will cross the islands on the Song Thu river delta using local transportation, including ferries and floating bridges…

This tour will take you on a visit to artisans making bricks according to age-old. You will discover how wooden river boats are made and learn the secret of weaving the colorful straw Hoi An sleeping mats. Try the renowned Vietnamese basket boats. You will spend the day with first-hand contact with one of the rural inhabitant of the region, far from the usual tourist circuits. At lunchtime you will be invited into a local home for a traditional Vietnamese meal, and learn their customs and traditions. After you have relaxed for a while under the shade of a mango tree, you will begin your return towards Hoi An, which will take about an hour.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Hoi An Ancient Town -the highlight of any tour to Vietnam that no Vietnam Tours maker would skip, is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Day free to cycle through rice paddies in the countryside of Hoi An ancient town, shop for souvenirs among the antique shops and art galleries, or just sit at sidewalk cafes and soak up the atmosphere of this quaint town. Or relax on the white sandy beach of the famous Cua Dai Beach.

This evening, enjoy Hoi An Memories Show that is a new but really outstanding outdoor performance that is scale up to a capacity of 3,300 people. It is featured with Vietnam traditional Ao Dai, the graceful and prosperous Hoi An Ancient Trading Port since 400 years ago. Our tour guide will give you the tickets one day before and you will go on your own. The theatre is just around 2-3Km from your hotel that you can access easily.

Overnight in a Hoi An hotel.

After breakfast, leave Hoi An for Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, well-known for magnificent architecture, pagodas and royal tombs laid in small villages and surrounding hills and one of the most popular cities for all the Vietnam Tours. En route have a look at the famous Danang Beach and visit Cham Museum which contains the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world.

Upon your arrival at Hue city, start our visit to the old capital city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty ruled from 1802 to 1945, with first stop at the Imperial Citadel giving you a better understanding of the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture.

Then we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. It is located on the banks of poetic Perfume River with typical traditional architecture of Hue pagodas and famous for the event that buddhist monk from this temple, Thich Quang Duc, burn himself to death for anti-government protest in 1963.

Back to your hotel at around 17:00 and overnight in Hue.

This morning, head out to Hue outskirt to visit King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

King Minh Mang Tomb lies on the west bank of Perfume River, about 12km from the city center. The tomb was constructed in 1840, firstly by King Ming Mang, then, completed by his son according to his plan. The tomb is the most majestic of all Nguyen Dynasty royal tombs thanks to its perfect combination of manmade and natural beauty of Hue, where architecture fits harmoniously into the surrounding landscape.

King Khai Dinh Tomb is actually the smallest tomb of all King’s Tombs in Hue, however, it is also the most costly one. The tomb was started building in 1920 and it takes 11 years to be completed. The truth is that the rulers had to raise national tax to 30% in order to complete the tomb. The prominent features of Khai Dinh tomb is about the intermingling of oriental and occidental, roman and gothic, ancient and modern.

Around noon, transfer back to Phu Bai airport for flight to Hanoi.

Upon your arrival at Noi Bai airport, pick up and transfer to your hotel for check-in.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Ranked among the world’s best destinations, Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam with more than 1000 years of history and culture. Hanoi is also well-known for its beautiful lakes with the image of local Tai Chi in the early morning, tree-line boulevards, flowers on bicycles and delicious dishes.

05:30 Wake up early and be ready for an amazing morning trip around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter – the symbols of Hanoi city and Hanoian. You will be surprised by seeing local Hanoians doing morning exercises around Hoan Kiem Lake as they are so natural practicing such strange Tai Chi in their own ways. Let’s see the way they do and join with them! From Hoan Kiem Lake, take a look at the Old Quarter as it is the only time in day you can enjoy quiet atmosphere.

07:00 Have breakfast with Pho – the most famous and popular dish in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular.

08:00: Pick up and transfer to visit the Museum of Ethnology – an insight into the 54 different ethnic groups living in Vietnam.It is here you will learn about the cultural diversity of different ethnic groups from religious events to the symbolic rituals as well as display of a variety of Vietnamese homes as full-scale replicas outside.

Continue to the Temple of Literature which is the first university in Vietnam. It was constructed in 1070, first to honor Confucius and nowadays to celebrate the doctorates and ranked scholars of Vietnam.

Have lunch at local restaurant.

Then, you will have an amazing trip to the Train Street (best time to be there is around 2pm as there is a train leaving at 02:30pm and another arrival at 03:30pm) to take fantastic pictures of incoming train as well as see how locals live on both sides of the railway. A little bit far from the hustle, bustle and narrow old streets, Train street is where the trains just hurl through the residential area in mere feed away from local lives. Enjoy a cup of coffee at Train Track Coffee Shop while watching the trains pass.

Next, visit Ho Chi Minh complex with first stop at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (outside) –a large memorial pays homage to the national hero – President Ho Chi Minh who led the country to independence and reunification. The Mausoleum is located at Ba Dinh Square where Ho Chi Minh President read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945 establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Then take a short walk to the Presidential Palace and house on stilts.
Near from Ho Chi Minh complex, we visit to the One Pillar Pagoda (special with unique architecture of lotus flower) – a must-see place for tourists to Hanoi.

Overnight in Hanoi.

We start at 9.00 A.M for the 2.5 hours drive to Halong Bay (150 km) through highways connecting Hanoi – Hai Phong & Hai Phong – Ha Long Bay. Our destination is Halong bay – the most famous World Heritage Site in Vietnam, famous for its beautiful seascape, thousands of spectacular islands and islets jutting out from the sea, amazing caves with marvelous stalagmites and stalactites in different sizes and shapes.

11:30 – 12:00 Upon arrival, you’ll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you’ll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we’ll stop some times for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Top white sand beach before anchoring for the night. Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.

It is said that your Vietnam Tours will not be complete without a tour to Halong Bay and spending one night on romantic Halong Cruise. People describe Halong Bay as majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious and words alone cannot do justice to the natural wonder that is Halong Bay, a priceless collection of unfinished sculptures hewn from the hand of nature.

After breakfast, we’ll take a little sampan or kayak to visit a secret lagoon of Ha Long Bay while the surrounding mountains are just waking up. After that our cruise takes us further into the Bay of Bai Tu Long traveling past the Human Head Island, the Turtle Island, and the Duck Islet… to the studio site where the famous Indochine film was shot. Around noon, our junk travels back to the harbor, pick up and drive back to Hanoi.

Arrive in Hanoi, take a cyclo ride around the Old Quarter to observe the daily life of Hanoian, as well as see how locals manage in the incredible traffic.

Start your interesting and fantastic street food & night walking tour (the walking tour will be much more fantastic at the weekend from Friday night to Sunday as many Old Streets will blocked for pedestrians).

At first, the street food & walking tour starts at one of Hanoi’s largest market, Dong Xuan market. In every corner, you can easily find various types of products, from dried food to pork, beef, seafood, from fruits to cakes, candies & fashion stuff. Our tour guide will give you full introductions of Vietnamese food culture with prominent ingredients as well as famous local dishes.

Next, you will try one of the most delicious foods in Hanoi, Banh Cuon at a local restaurant. There, you can easily watch how our master chefs cook and prepare the dish. Banh Cuon is made from a first layer of steamed fermented rice batter and a second layer of minced wood ear mushroom, minced pork, minced shallots that are all rolled together. It is served with dipping sauce consisting of Cha Lua (Vietnamese pork sausage), sliced cucumber, carrot, bean sporuts and fish sauce.
From there, continue our walking tour to the heart of the Old Quarter, wandering around street stalls, passing ancient house & pagodas.

Our next stop is a Grilled Pork Street Stall where small pork pieces are are flame grilled over hot coals. You can also have grilled pork with bread & vegetable that is really a Vietnam specialty and even considered one of the world best hamburgers.

It’s then our time for dessert after some main dishes and fresh fruits should not be missed!!! However, it is not only fresh fruits but all of the stuff will be mixed with condensed milk and crushed ice.

One another try should be the egg coffee, served at a quiet and ancient café shop, hidden behind buildings and busy streets. Cold Beer may be a better choice if coffee is not your style.

Finally, end the trip with Hanoi most famous ice-cream where locals really enjoy.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Free time at leisure for you to wrap up your memorable Vietnam Holiday until Vivutravel’s private guide will see you off at the airport with the sincere thanks for your travel to Vietnam and with Vivutravel. We hope that you have enjoyed your Vietnam trip and look forward to welcoming you back for your next Vietnam Tour, goodbye and see you again!!!