Morning, take a full-day city tour beginning with Ho Chi Minh Complex which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the nation’s founder’s body is preserved (closed on Monday, Friday, and through October - November), the colonial Presidential Palace, originally the French Governor Office and a fine example of French architecture in Hanoi, and the rural style Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. Stop by one of Hanoi’s icons, the One Pillar Pagoda, built in the 11th Century in dedication to Buddha of Compassion and reminiscent of a lotus blossom rising from a pond. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university of Vietnam built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages, and outstanding Vietnamese scholars. 

Afternoon, continue the tour to one of the following museums of choice namely the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Vietnamese History, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History, or the Museum of Ethnology. Go to Hoan Kiem Lake, the center point of Hanoi whose name “The Return Sword Lake” originated from a legend of a sacred sword and home to a rare endangered giant turtle species, and visit Ngoc Son Temple on the lake. Next, take a one-hour cycle tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi with its ancient streets representing traditional trades from the past. Finish the tour at the Thang Long Opera Theatre with a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Ha Noi

Morning pickup at 8:00 AM from your hotel for transfer to Ha Long Bay, which is about 160 km or 3.5-hour drive away. On the way, you will see some rural areas of the Red River Delta with plenty of chances to take photos of Vietnamese farmers working in paddy fields. Stop halfway to visit a handicraft workshop of fine clothes and embroidered paintings. Arrive in Ha Long City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk right after the welcome drink is served. Start cruising while having lunch on board and enjoy the mighty bay view.

Ha Long Bay means Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese as legend has it that it was where a holly dragon landed down from the sky. The bay, famous as one of the world’s wonders and heritage sites whose formation dates back 500 million years, consists of around 2,000 karst islands and islets scattered over an area of 1,553 km2. The bay cruise will continue with up-close sightings of Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Dog Island, Sail Island, a visit to Sung Sot Cave, and a swimming stop at Titov Beach. Relax to enjoy the bay view at sunset, have dinner after, go fishing at 09:00 PM, and spend a night on board.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight on cruises in Ha Long Bay 

Wake up at 06:30 AM and refresh your body and mind with a Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck. Tai Chi is an ancient internal martial art often practiced in soft and gracefully slow moves to enhance internal harmony and vitality. Have tea and coffee onboard before proceeding to Titov Islet or SoiSim Island to trek and swim. Check out at 09:30, and have a buffet brunch while cruising back to shore. Disembark at 11:00 AM to transfer to Hanoi.

Free at leisure until meet our guide then transfer to the airport for flight...

Arrival Hue airport, meet our guide & driver then transfer to the Hue city

Meal: Brunch 
Overnight at a hotel in Hue

In the morning, meet our guide at your hotel and take a full-day tour of Hue City, the former Imperial Capital of Vietnam from 1802-1945 and the last refuge of Vietnamese feudalism. A natural scenic landscape and an extensive variety of historical relics characterize the city’s beauty. Begin with Hue Citadel, a well-known UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site which is a 520-ha fortress-like grand complex built in the early 1800s and featuring three enclosures separated by heavy ramparts namely Kinh Thanh Hue (Civic City) as the outer, Hoang Thanh (Royal City) as the middle and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden City) as the inner. Continue to Khai Dinh Tomb, the burial site of Vietnam’s second-to-last king, and the most elaborate compared to other kings’ tombs. The tomb shows a vivid European influence in architecture despite its Asian style.

In the afternoon, you will take a boat cruise along the Perfume River to enjoy the open view of the river and its surroundings. Stop along the way and land on shore to visit two prominent historical landmarks namely the Minh Mang Tomb, where the 2nd Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty was buried, and Thien Mu Pagoda, an active Buddhist monastery overlooking the river from a vantage point with its origin dating back to 1601. The last destination is a stop for shopping at Dong Ba market, which is the city’s traditional commercial center.

Check out and you transfer to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass (Ocean Cloud Pass). Enjoy a stunning headland-and-bay panoramic view from the pass, which for miles hugs the mountainside along the shoreline and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. On the way, you will stop to visit the Museum of Cham Sculpture built in 1915 and housing the world’s most extensive collection of Cham ethnic sculpture artworks, and the Marble Mountains, whose peaks represent the five basic elements of the universe. 

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Hoi An

In the morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer out for a full-day city tour to discover the charm of Hoi An as a renowned World Heritage Site. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between the 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles, and traditions. The town exemplifies a fascinating fusion of cultures between Vietnam and the outside world including China, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines. Highlights for sightseeing include the town’s iconic 400-year-old Covered Bridge with a small temple attached to one side as a prominent example of Japanese architecture, the Museum of Trade Ceramics which is an elegant Vietnamese-style wooden house built in 1858 showcasing antique ceramic artifacts, the 200-year-old Tan Ky House typifying an ancient Chinese merchant residence, the Ong Temple built in 1653 by Chinese settlers to worship Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general whose character stands for loyalty, bravery and justice and the local market vibrant with colors and activities. 

In the afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Thu Bon River to enjoy the countryside landscapes. Land in Kim Bong village where carpentry has been practiced since the 16th Century as the village’s trademark to visit some old-fashioned boatyards using timber as the main material. Move on to Thanh Ha village to see its traditional ceramic production trade still alive and thriving despite the 500-year passage of time.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Hoi An

 Free at leisure until transfer to Danang airport for flight...

Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, welcome by our guide, and transfer to your hotel. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon, is the largest city and economic center of Vietnam, always bustling with activities of modern life. It is where businesses converge and shoppers indulge themselves in unlimited choices. However, the city also carries with it a rich historical legacy in contrast with its dazzling glamor.

Meet our guide at your hotel and take a city tour to visit the War Remnants Museum which features a comprehensive collection of the machinery, weapons, photos, and documentation of the Vietnam War with both the French and Americans and the Reunification Palace which was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam until end of April 1975. Last, stop for shopping at the French-built Ben Thanh Market which dates back to 1870 and whose main entrance clock tower has become a city’s symbol.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh

In the morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer about 75 km northwest of downtown Ho Chi Minh City to visit the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. The driving time is approximately 2 hours.

Arriving in Cu Chi, we explore the tunnels which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and the Americans. The tunnels, entirely hand-dug, formed a highly intricate network of interlinked multilevel passageways at times stretched as far as the Cambodian border and totaled over 120 km in length. Its complexity was beyond imagination, containing meeting rooms, kitchens, wells, clinics, schools, depots, trenches, and emergency exits all aimed at guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and self-contained enough to outlast prolonged sieges. Afterward, return to Saigon for lunch.

Afternoon, tour the city with the Reunification Palace, which was formerly the South Vietnam President’s residence and symbol of the Southern Administration’s reign until the end of April 1975. Next, stop at Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Roman cathedral built over 130 years ago by the colonial French with materials entirely imported from Marseilles. Call in Sai Gon Post Office, a fine colonial building that was designed and built in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel. Move on to Cho Lon or the city’s China Town where you will stop off at the Thien Hau temple. The Thien Hau temple was built in the early 19th Century and dedicated to Thien Hau, the goddess of seafarers. A short stop will be made at Ben Thanh Market to buy fruits, and souvenirs if you want before transferring back to the hotel. 

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh

Morning, pick up at your hotel and transfer about 136km to Vinh Long, a riverside town located in the Mekong Delta. Enjoy a boat cruise to the Caribe floating market with sellers and buyers bargaining and exchanging goods from their boats, and then to Hoa Binh Phuoc islet where the maze of shady creeks will surely fascinate you. You will have a chance to mingle with local peasants and learn the secrets of their bonsai gardening. Visit local homes where the families produce tiles and ceramics; drop into a rice-paper kiln and coconut-candy kiln; and observe daily country life.

Afternoon, drive to Can Tho & check-in and free at leisure.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Can Tho

In the morning, depart Ninh Kieu Wharf by shuttle-boat, you can see bustling activities along Can Tho riverbanks. Particularly, you may know how local people go fishing with plenty of fish traps and how they transport passengers as well as products by the waterway. Approaching the Cai Rang floating market, you can reappear the selling activities in the past using a traditional “offering pole” exchanging consumer goods hanging on the pole for Mekong fruit and vegetables with local sellers. To understand more about lifestyle over here, keep on going into the small creeks called Rach Nho in which the Southern countryside can be seen clearly before cruising back to Ninh Kieu Wharf.

Then our guide & driver will transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City. Free for the rest of the day.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh

Meet our guide & driver at the hotel lobby then transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for flight to Siem Reap.

Upon arrival at Siem Reap airport, welcome by tour guide and transfer to hotel for check-in.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap

After breakfast at the hotel, today start your visit at Angkor Thom by starting from the Southgate to the famous Bayon temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara. Continue to visit the Phimeanakas, the Royal Enclosure, the Elephants Terrace, and the Terrace of the Leper King.  Continuing visit to the temple of Ta Prohm, with enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers embracing themselves in the stone foundations of the structure giving the impression of man’s creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature is an incredible sight.

In the afternoon, continue the tour to the most famous temple Angkor Wat, a World Heritage Site since 1992, famous for its beauty and splendor. Angkor Wat features the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which runs along the outer gallery walls and narrates stories from Hindu mythology. Evening, visit Bakheng Temple and enjoy a spectacular sunset view from Bakheng Hills.

Meal: Breakfast

Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap.

Morning, visit to Banteay Srei Temple (10th century), regarded as the jewel in the crown of classical Khmer Art. Then continue your visit to Banteay Samre, built in the third quarter of the 12th century. It consists of a central temple with four wings preceded by a hall and accompanied by two libraries, the southern example remarkably well preserved.

In the afternoon, start an excursion boat trip to Chong Kneas Floating Village, take a ride by a traditional wooden boat on Tonle Sap Lake to experience the fishermen's life. In the wet season, the Tonle Sap Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. Transfer back to the hotel.

Meal: Breakfast
Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap.

Breakfast at the hotel, then free until time to transfer with our guide and driver to the airport for departure flight

Meal: Breakfast