WONDERFUL VIETNAM FAMILY HOLIDAY

DAY 1 : HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON) (- / - / D)

Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to hotel for check in. The distance is approximately 30 minutes

Your visa should be pre-arranged, or be sure that your visa-on-arrival letter is in your carry-on luggage. Please go to custom desk as your first point of entry into the country and present these documents for visa upon arrival.

Ho Chi Minh City formerly named Saigon is the largest city and economic center of Vietnam always bustled with activities of modern life. It is where businesses converge and shoppers indulge themselves into unlimited choices. However the city also carries with it a rich historical legacy in contrast with its dazzling glamor.

Meals: Dinner

Accommodation: Overnight at Grand Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

DAY 2 : HO CHI MINH CITY – CU CHI TUNNELS (B / L / -)

Morning, take a half-day tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, 75 km Northwest of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and later on 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 totaling over 120 km in length. Its complexity was beyond imagination containing meeting rooms, kitchens, wells, clinics, schools, depots, trenches and emergency exits all aimed for guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and selfcontained enough to outlast prolonged sieges.

Back to Ho Chi Minh City for lunch and an afternoon tour around major sights including Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Roman cathedral as a Frenchbuilt neo-Roman cathedral, Saigon Central Post Office, former Presidential Palace, Dong Khoi Street (formely Rue Catinat), Opera House and City Hall, the History Museum and Ben Thanh Market.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Grand Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

DAY 3 : HO CHI MINH CITY – MEKONG DELTA (MYTHO/BEN TRE) (B / L / -)

Morning, after breakfast, travel by road to the Mekong Delta, past miles of flat rice fields along a bustling road to the Mekong Delta, the world’s largest delta and Vietnam's largest rice bowl.

On arrival in My Tho City, board a motorboat and navigate through intricate canals while observing the local daily life up close as well as the landscape of waterways and lush islands. Land on Thoi Son Island where you can listen to Southern traditional music performed by native artists. Next, you will change to a paddle boat to cruise through the narrow canals and visit households with traditional occupations of home-based coconut candy and rice-wine making.

Continue travel by motorized boat to another island to visit a bee farm and taste tea with fresh honey from the beehives and enjoy fresh fruits.

On the return to My Tho, stop to visit the Vinh Trang Pagoda, a prominent local Buddhist structure built in 1850 with a unique architectural mixture of Vietnamese, Roman, Chinese and Cambodian styles characterized by a highly ornate façade. You might enjoy a lovely lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Go back Ho Chi Minh City and take a stroll through the French-built Ben Thanh Market which dates back to 1870 and whose main entrance clock tower become a city’s symbol. Conclude the day with a cup of Vietnamese coffee or beer on the street while watching the commotions of city life.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Grand Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

DAY 4 : HO CHI MINH – DA NANG – HOI AN (B / L / -)

Free at leisure until transfer to airport for a flight from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

After arrival in Da Nang, you meet and greet with your guide followed by a private transfer to your hotel in Hoi An. The transfer is approximately 40 minutes.

In the afternoon, discover the charm of Hoi An recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, 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.

Your sightseeing will include the 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. Return to your hotel

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Hoi An Boutique Resort Resort in Hoi An

DAY 5 : HOI AN – COOKING CLASS – RURAL LIFE EXPERIENCE (B / L / -)

Morning meet our guide at your hotel and transfer out to a local market. A guide from the local cooking school will take you on a tour through the market to learn about the ingredients to be used in your recipes. After the market, board a boat to ride along Hoi An river for about 25 minutes, watching local fishermen casting nets as part of their daily routine.

Arrive at a small township and walk to the cooking school. The class starts in an open-air pavilion by the river under the instruction of an experienced chef. Observe, practice, sample and bring out a good lunch cooked the local style to your own taste. Enjoy it yourself.

Afternoon, a bicycle tour to the countryside and explore Tra Que vegetable village. You and your kids will join into farming activities and farming works such as; Go fishing with local fishermen, visit the water coconut palm jungle, walk around the Eco – Tra Que Organic village. End of the day, you enjoy Vietnamese traditional snacks on board and see the sunset before tour ends.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Hoi An Boutique Resort Resort in Hoi An

DAY 6 : HOI AN - DA NANG – HUE (B / L / -)

Morning transfer to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass (Ocean Cloud Pass). Enjoy a stunning headland-andbay panoramic view from the pass, which for miles hugs the mountainside along the shoreline and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Stop at the Cham Museum and Marble Mountains en route. Continue on to Hue for check in.

Lunch at local restaurant

Hue was Vietnam’s feudal capital from 1802 to 1945 under the Nguyen dynasty. It is widely known for the grand architechture of its citadels, palaces, royal tombs, pagodas and temples set in a poetic background of the green banks of the Perfume River. You’ll also enjoy ½ day tour benning with dragon boat to Thien Mu Pagoda, then to the Citadel at the Imperial Palace with one hour cyclo-ride.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Indochina Place in Hue

DAY 7 : HUE - HANOI (B / L / -)

Morning, transfer to airport for a flight from Hue to Ha Noi. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The airport transfer is approximately 40 minutes.

Upon arrival, meet with our guide then enjoy a private transfer to the downtown, start the half day city tour in Hanoi. Hanoi is city of lakes, public parks surrounded with French architecture and historical monuments.

During the half-day city tour, you will visit the 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 Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or 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.

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. Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple, enjoy your free time to walk around the old quarter 36 streets.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Apricot hotel in Hanoi

DAY 8 : HANOI – HOA LU - VAN LONG (B / L / -)

Morning, after breakfast at hotel, private transfer about 100 km South of Hanoi (2.5 hour drive) to Hoa Lu District, Ninh Binh Province. Discover the first capital of Vietnam, which was founded in the 10th Century by the Dinh Dynasty as a stronghold against the Northern invaders and shortly later was inherited by the Le Dynasty. Visit the two old temples one dedicated to Dinh Tien Hoang, the only king of the Dinh Dynasty and also Vietnam’s first emperor and the other to the succeeding kings of the Le Dynasty.

Get on the bike and cycling through serene hamlets, temples, bamboo trees, along the canals, communal house and countryside market (7 km) to Van Long stilt-house. Enjoy lunch with goat meat, the most authentic cuisine of Ninh Binh province.

Afternoon, you’re transferred by buffalo-cart to Van Long Nature reserve, a 3,000 ha area of wetland and limestone mountain. Take a small bamboo boat to travel around and enjoy the scenic views of towering mountains, vast expanse of water and flocks of bird. Rich in wildlife, Van Long is home to a many species of migratory birds and a wide variety of animals including those rare and endangered like the Delacour’s langur. The reserve is an ideal bird-watching place where you may sight white storks, herons, spoonbills, pygmy geese and crakes. It’s 1-hour relaxable boating. Overnight in Emeralda resort near from the Nature reserve

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Emeralda Resort in Ninh Binh

DAY 9 : NINH BINH - HA LONG - BAI TU LONG BAY – CONG DO (B / L / D)

Morning, enjoy a private transfer from Ninh Binh 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.

Arrive in Ha Long City at 11:30 AM

12.00 – 12.30: Embark at Hon Gai International harbor.
12.30 – 13.00: Check-in, enjoy welcome drink & cruise briefing.
13.30 – 15.00: Have lunch while cruising to magnificent Bai Tu Long Bay; admire the fascinating formations.
15.00 – 16.30: Cruise to Cap La, Tra San.
16.30 – 17.30: Enjoy paddling around Cap La and Tra San by kayak.
17.45 – 19.00: Back to junk for swimming or relaxing.
19.00 – 21.00: Have dinner and overnight on board in Cong Do.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Overnight at Prince Junk

DAY 10 : CAP LA – HAI QUAN – VUNG VIENT – THIEN CANH SON CAVE (B / L / D)

07.30 – 08.00: Morning view of Bay’s landscape with a cup of tea or coffee. Have breakfast in the fresh air. 08.15 – 09.15: Start cruising to Vung Vieng.
09.30 – 10.30: Visit Vung Vieng fishing village by a rustic row-boat, meet the local people and pass through the floating school and fish farms.
10.30 – 11.30: Reach to Hon Co Island for swimming or relaxing. Explore the well- hidden Thien Canh Son cave.
12.00 – 13.30: Have a BBQ lunch and relax on a wild beach or in Thien Canh Son cave (Depending on the availability and weather condition).
13.45 – 15.45: Back to junk for relaxing while cruising to Cong Do area.
16.00 – 17.30: Enjoy swimming or kayaking through Cong Do and Thay cave area 19.00 – 21.00: Have dinner & overnight on board.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Overnight at Prince Junk

DAY 11 : CONG DO – HON GAI HARBOUR (BRUNCH) (B / - / -)

07.30 – 08.00: Enjoy fresh air & gentle breeze of the bay in morning. Have breakfast on board. 08.30 – 09.30: Free time for swimming & relaxing. 10.00 – 11.30: Start cruising towards the harbor while A la carte lunch is served.

11.45 – 12.00: Disembark. Drive to Yen Duc village in Dong Trieu province. 14.00 – 14.30: Enjoy water puppet show performed by local artists. 14.45 – 17.30: Arrive in Hanoi. Overnight in Hanoi

Meals: Brunch

Accommodation: Overnight at Apricot hotel in Hanoi

DAY 12 : HANOI DEPARTURE (B / - / -)

Free morning at leisure until our tour guide transfers your family to Hanoi international airport.

Meal: Breakfast

End of the Tour