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Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive Hanoi (D)
Day 2: Hanoi City Tour (B/L)
Day 3: Halong Bay Excursion (B/L)
Day 4: Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City (B/D)
Day 5: Mekong Delta Excursion (B/L)
Day 6: Cu Chi Tunnels (B)
Day 7: Departure (B)
You will begin in charming Hanoi, Vietnam's artistic and intellectual capital. You will explore the fascinating Old Quarter and its hundreds of specialty shops selling silk clothing, lacquer ware, embroidered linens, furniture, bamboo, cooking utensils, ceremonial objects and more. Then take a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, ride a cyclo to dinner, and watch a delightful performance of Vietnam's water puppet theater. You will dine in French colonial villas converted into gourmet restaurants and enjoy people watching at stylish cafes. You can also shop for impressive modern art in the city's numerous galleries. Also, you'll visit Hanoi's main cultural attractions, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, his house on stilts, the One Pillar Pagoda, the Fine Arts Museum and the Temple of Literature.
Next, fly to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the country's commercial center and home to a growing number of upscale restaurants and shops. You will visit Chinatown, the Thien Hau Pagoda, the Reunification Palace, the Opera House and the Hotel de Ville. If you desire, you can also visit the powerful War Remnants Museum. The, explore colorful outdoor markets and Dong Khoi Street, the city's main shopping boulevard with fashion boutiques, hill tribe crafts, high quality linens and house wares. And be sure to try Saigon's strong Vietnamese iced coffee and a banh mi (baguette sandwich).
Then you will take a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and watch an unusual religious ceremony at the main temple of Cao Daism, a unique fusion of world religions.
On another day trip, you will tour the narrow canals of the Mekong Delta to experience the traditional side of Vietnamese river life.
Itinerary details:
Day 1: Arrive Hanoi
Upon arrival at Hanoi's Noi Bai International airport, you will be greeted by our guide and transferred to your hotel. You will have a welcome dinner followed by a water puppet performance and an overnight stay in Hanoi.
Day 2: Hanoi City Tour
You will begin in charming Hanoi, Vietnam's artistic and intellectual capital. You will explore the fascinating Old Quarter and its hundreds of specialty shops selling silk clothing, lacquer ware, embroidered linens, furniture, bamboo, cooking utensils, ceremonial objects and more. You can also shop for impressive modern art in the city's numerous galleries. Also, you'll visit Hanoi's main cultural attractions, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, his house on stilts, the One Pillar Pagoda, the Fine Arts Museum and the Temple of Literature. You will have an overnight stay.
Day 3: Hanoi – Halong Bay Excursion – Hanoi
Upon meeting you at your hotel at 8:00 am, we will drive to Halong City, an approximately 3 hour drive. Once in Halong City, you will board your boat for a four hour cruise of this stunning area, stopping along the way to visit one of the most beautiful limestone caves in the area. As you are cruising, the boat staff will serve a sumptuous local seafood lunch. The, you will cruise back to the harbor and return to your hotel in Hanoi for an overnight stay.
Day 4: Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City
You will go to HCMC in the morning and in the afternoon have a private tour of the country's commercial center and home to a growing number of upscale restaurants and shops. You will visit Chinatown, the Thien Hau Pagoda, the Reunification Palace, the Opera House and the Hotel deVille. You should also visit the powerful War Remnants Museum. You'll stroll through the city's main shopping boulevard with fashionable boutiques and hill tribe crafts, high quality linens and house-wares. You will have an overnight stay in HCMC.
Day 5: Ho Chi Minh – Mekong Delta Excursion – Ho Chi Minh
The Mekong Delta is the southernmost region of Vietnam and is often referred to as the rice bowl of Vietnam as it produces three crops of rice per year. The fertile Mekong Delta is also famous for its tropical fruits and flowers.
You will leave HCMC to lush My Tho, where you will board a private boat to go through the green vegetation of the canals to an orchard, where guests are treated to a delicious lunch in a local restaurant in the heart of the Mekong, complete with succulent tropical fruits. You also visit the snake farm, Dong Tam, that breeds snakes for, among other things, snake wine. Then you will head back to HCMC for an overnight stay.
Day 6: Ho Chi Minh – Cu Chi Tunnels – Ho Chi Minh
In the morning you will enjoy a half-day private excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels consist of more than 200km of underground tunnels. This main axis system has many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels. The network included innumerable trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens. Today the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction giving the visitor a unique experience and a feel of what underground life was like during the U.S.-Vietnam War. The afternoon is and you will stay overnight in HCMC.
Day 7: Ho Chi Minh – Departure
There is no activity planned for today so you are free to go for souvenir shopping until transfer to the HCMC airport for your departing flight.
