Absolute Vietnam Holidays 15 days

Upon your arrival at Hanoi airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your hotel, help with your check-in. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, you have a full day today to explore Vietnam’s charming capital. With its wide tree-lined boulevards, French colonial architecture, peaceful lakes and ancient oriental pagodas, Hanoi is an eclectic mix that offers something for everyone. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and his personal residence, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Tran Quoc Pagoda. End the morning with a visit to the Museum of Ethnology (or Women Museum, History Museum, Hoa Lo Prison or Army Museum). In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, the first University for the sons of mandarins. Followed by a visit to Ngoc Son Temple nearby Hoan Kiem Lake. Enjoy a one-hour rickshaw sight-seeing tour around Hanoi Old Quarter for great fun. Then, watch a traditional water puppet show in the late afternoon.

In the evening, transfer to Hanoi railway station for night train to Sapa. Overnight on train.

Note: please note Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed on Monday and Friday and most of museums are closed on Monday.

The train arrives at the Laocai railway station in the early morning. Your guide and driver will meet you there and take you on the 35km drive to Sapa – Northwest Vietnam’s premier travel destination. Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and take a short rest then spend the day discovering the many picturesque minority villages located in the Sapa Valley. Drive to Lao Chai and then walk 2 km through rice fields, passing by traditional Black Hmong houses before continuing to Ta Van Village (2 km) to visit a Giay minority community and go up to Giang Ta Chai village. This part of the trip is fascinating because of its beautiful scenery and vibrant minority cultures such as that of the Red Dao. Your driver will be waiting for you at Giang Ta Chai village.

In the afternoon, visit Cat Cat village and spend the rest of the afternoon wandering through the local market in Sapa town.

After early breakfast, depart to the local ethnic markets where you will see people of different hill tribes. The markets in the Northern Vietnam are always the colorful meeting places for the hill tribes, spotlight for any Sapa Tours and of course, your unique Vietnam Tours experience. Minority people come down from the mountains to sell their products, or just for catching up on the latest news, gossip, drinking away troubles or seeking for lover. Depending on the day, markets can be held in different regions.

In the afternoon, a local village nearby and learn more about the daily life of the hill tribe communities as well as their living environment. Drive to Lao Cai for your night train back to Hanoi.

Note: Visits to the minority markets may be switched, depending on the opening days of each market (See schedule below). It might be cold and wet in winter (October – Mar), please prepare jacket and good shoes for the walk.

Market days:

Can Cau Market – Saturdays

Bac Ha Market or Muong Hum Market or Muong Khuong Market – Sundays

Cao Son Market – Wednesdays

Lung Khau Nhin Market – Thursdays

Coc Ly Market – Tuesdays

Pick up from the train station, this morning, we have already arranged a room in a mini hotel for you to have shower and breakfast. We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3.5 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields.

Stop at half way for taking a short break. Arrive at Halong City, check in and board your junk, enjoy approximately 24 hours journey in the amazing bay: a natural wonderland composed of jutting limestone islands and sparkling turquoise waters. Savor a gourmet lunch of fresh seafood onboard as we sail out into the mystical bay. In the afternoon, enjoy some activities in the bay, or just spend some time relaxing on board (Possibility to swim in the bay if weather permits). Dinner is served on board.

Note: Visits or activities will be slightly different depending on each junk’s itinerary. Your tour guide will be replaced by a local guide on board during your cruise.

Awake early and participate in Tai Chi on the top deck or simply relax and enjoy the sunrise over the bay’s towering islands. Enjoy a morning cup of coffee or tea, and a light breakfast before setting out to explore nearby islands by rowboat. Return to the junk then take advantage of the sundeck and admire the amazing rock formations of Bai Tu Long Bay as we navigate back to Halong City. Have brunch on board the boat before returning to Halong pier. Our guide and driver will meet you at the pier then drive back to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Hue. Upon your arrival at Phu Bai airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your check-in in hotel. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, spend an entire day touring the Vietnam’s former ancient capital. Start the day with a visit to the Imperial Citadel, home to the Imperial City and Forbidden Purple City – once the Emperor’s private residence. The Imperial Citadel gives 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. In the afternoon, continue on your tour with the visit to King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

After breakfast, drive to Hoi An – highlight of any tour to Vietnam – 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. This scenic drive passes through the fishing village of Lang Co before climbing over the Hai Van Pass (Pass of Ocean Clouds). On the way, stop in Danang to visit the Cham Museum, which contains the finest collection of Cham sculptures in the world and Marble Mountain – a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels and temples.

Upon arrival in Hoi An, free to take walking tour of the Hoi An ancient town centre.

Our FARMING & FISHING LIFE TOUR provides you with a close-up and intimate exposure to both the local farming and fishing communities. The photo opportunities are endless.

Tour guide meets you at your hotel, cycle to a local farming village traveling along picturesque country roads (Bus or bike are option to choose to go). Share in the daily work life of local farmers – hoeing and a soil, watering veggie at an organic herb garden, riding water buffalo in the field and enjoy the freshest air of the countryside beauty. Board boat and cruise to the mouth of the river where it meets the Cua Dai Sea

Learn and try your hand at local traditional fishing techniques using round and cast nets. Learn to paddle the strange and unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats. Explore the now tranquil coconut-palm flanked waterways of a past war and hear of the extreme conditions endured by soldiers on both sides. Have a relaxed fun with catching beautiful purple crabs on bamboo basket boat. Learn how to make an origami creations from reeds of palm leaves such as grasshopper , birds, ring, sunglass ,bracelets….etc Visit a local water coconut palm village, take a walk around the village and have some tea and snack with local talks.

Back on-board our boat, enjoy lunch and cold beer or soft drink. Return to hotel by coach.

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. Overnight in a Hoi An hotel.

Free at leisure until we pick you up and transfer to Danang airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Sai Gon), the city that is famous with modern office skyscrapers, oriental style pagodas and food stalls along the street.

Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, pick up and transfer to your hotel for check-in. The rest of the day is on your own.

In the morning, drive outside of Ho Chi Minh City to visit the incredible Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels are an underground labyrinth of passageways, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (or “American War” as it’s referred to here) as protection against American air raids. Those inclined are invited to crawl through selections of the tunnels to better understand what life was like for the Vietnamese soldiers during wartime.

In the afternoon, back to Sai Gon for a visit to the 19th century ‘Notre-Dame’ Cathedral, the beautiful Central Post Office which are fine examples of classical French colonial architecture. Continue with a tour of the former Presidential Palace (Reunification Palace), now preserved as a museum. After that, we finish the day by visiting the War Remnants Museum and the bustling Ben Thanh Market.

Depart Saigon and drive south to Ben Tre, a province of Mekong Delta and is famous for its tropical fruit gardens and traditional handicrafts made of coconuts. Your first stop is a brick kiln to see how the locals still use traditional methods to make the bricks. Then board on your private boat and start cruising to My Long craft village, stop at local house to see how to make rice paper. Then continue to cruise coconut jungle to visit local coconut workshop to learn how coconut candy and coconut souvenirs are made by hand. Back on board for another short cruise to a small family-run mat workshop.

Afterward, get on tuk-tuk (or take a bike ride of 3 km) and travel along the narrow shady village roads to a tropical garden of a fruit farmer, enjoy a walk around his orchard. Chat with the farmer whilst tasting fresh seasonal fruits in his garden. Continue your leisure sight-seeing until reaching a charming local restaurant for lunch with Mekong specialties. After lunch, have a short break before getting on sampan for rowing through the idyllic water palm creek. Arrive at your main boat and cruise back to Hung Vuong Pier where your driver awaits for a drive to Can Tho. Arrive in Can Tho at your hotel where you will be free at leisure this evening.

Wake up early this morning for a more unique experience of the real Mekong Delta. A trip to Can Tho would not been considered finished if you miss the famous Cai Rang floating market. Board a local boat at Ninh Kieu pier and explore the colorful Cai Rang floating market, where many boats laden with fruits, vegetables and fish jostle for trade. Sellers advertise their wares by crying out across the waters or tie their goods to a tall pole attached to their boat so that buyers can see from a distance what is being sold. This memorable experience makes for many excellent photo opportunities. Relax and enjoy the cruise back to the hotel where we will freshen up before we check-out and return to Saigon. Lunch will be enjoyed at a local restaurant along the way (own account)

Free time at leisure for you to wrap up your memorable Vietnam Holiday until our tour guide escorts you to the airport for your departure flight. Goodbye and see you again.