22 Day Private Vietnam Travel Experience Ho Chi Minh City

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

Day 1
Arrival in Hanoi, Airport pick-up
3 stops
1
Hanoi Opera House
Welcome to take our Vietnam private tour with daily departure, which can be tailored to meet your individual interests. You will enjoy a more personalized experience as the trip is only for your private party, with no other people. ­ Upon arrival in Hanoi, our guide and driver will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel. In the afternoon we will go to the castle-like Opera House.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
2
Old Quarter
Then we pay a visit to the busy Old Quarter.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
3
Next, we will visit the peaceful Ngoc Son Temple situated on a little island in the middle of the Hoan Kiem Lake. At night, you’ll be treated a big dinner at a popular restaurant to taste authentic Vietnamese cuisine.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
Day 2
Hanoi City Highlights, Night Train to Lao Cai
6 stops
4
Ba Dinh Square
After breakfast, travel to the historical Ba Dinh Square, which is in the heart of Hanoi.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
5
Presidential Palace
We will then take a stroll to the West Lake nearby and check out the Presidential Palace and Ho Chi Minh's Stilt House, from which you’ll have a better understanding of Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of Vietnam.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
6
One Pillar Pagoda
Next, visit the One Pillar Pagoda.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
7
Then, we will head to West Lake Scenic Area to appreciate the ancient Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi aged nearly 1500.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
8
Temple of Literature & National University
Then head southwards to visit the Temple of Literature, where Confucius and some Confucian sages are enshrined.
30 minutes • Admission ticket included
9
Thang Long Water Puppet
At dusk, enjoy the 1,000-year-old national treasure, Water Puppet Show. During the show, puppeteers standing in mid-waist water behind the scene tacitly work with musicians who play folk instrument and do voice dubbing. Through the show, you will get to learn the lives of traditional rice farmers, historical stories and legends. Afterwards, take an overnight train we booked for you to Lao Cai. You will sleep on a meter-gauge train, a legacy of the colonial period, and arrive in 8 hours. It spares you the day drive for 4-5 hours which would reduce your time for sheer fun
1 hour • Admission ticket included
Day 3
Lao Cai Pick-up, Drive to Sapa, Hiking to Cat Cat & Sin Chai Villages
1 stop
10
In the morning, your Lao Cai guide and driver will pick you up outside the train station on time and then escort you to the hotel in Sapa Town. After breakfast and a short rest, we’ll set out for a hike along the mountain trails to the vibrant Cat Cat Village, which is inhabited by Hmong ethnic group. Walk down the stone path leading to the village, pass various stalls selling traditional adornments and local women in ethnic clothes weaving brocade fabrics, and we will reach the bottom of the valley. You’ll get an otherworldly view where a waterfall murmurs into a stream. If it’s in summer, lush rice terraces will stretch into infinity; while in the harvest season, a vast expanse of golden rice fields will make you marvel. Then continue to appreciate the undisturbed Sin Chai Village, home of Red Dao ethnic group. There is a large temperature difference between day and night, so it’s recommended to wear a light coat. After that, reverse the trip back to the hotel in Sapa.
5 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 4
Sapa Full Day Hiking to Hill Tribe Villages, Night Train Back to Hanoi
1 stop
11
Trekking is definitely a must-do in Sapa! After breakfast, your guide will accompany you to trek through picturesque valleys and visit the Hmong, Dzao and Dzay tribe villages to get close to the local people and their life. There are three routes, which are 3 kilometers (2 miles), 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) and 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) separately, and you can choose any one according to your physical strength. Along the way, pass bamboo forest and streams to arrive before more rice terraces. Encounter water buffalo working on the terraces and plants used by local villagers to dye fabrics. Mountain trails, especially after rain, will be difficult to walk, so be sure to wear non-slip and durable walking shoes. If you like to take some handcrafts as souvenirs locals selling along the way, be sure to ask for a deep discount. This evening, you’ll be transferred to the railway station to catch the overnight train back to Hanoi.
6 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 5
Hanoi Pick-up, Drive 3 Hours to Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay Cruise
1 stop
12
Halong Bay
This morning, you will be picked up at the railway station and then escorted to the UNESCO- preserved Ha Long Bay. Along the 3-hour drive, unwind with a beautiful scenery of vast stretches of rice paddy fields, colorful traditional tube houses, and farmers with bamboo hats cultivating on the fields. Upon arrival, embark on the luxury cruise ship we carefully selected to enjoy the scenery of Ha Long Bay, which is brimmed with nearly 2,000 karst islets. While introducing histories and interesting facts about the Bay, the guide on the cruise ship will remind you when you’re passing by key spots. You'll take a kayak to a wooded island and swim off the beach. If you’re on Indochine Cruise, you’ll head to Lan Ha Bay to appreciate strange stalactites in a cave on the island; if you take Signature Royal Cruise, it’ll escort you to Bai Tu Long Bay to see a local fishing village and learn about their life in the middle of the sea. After the tour, go back on your cruise ship.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 6
Ha Long Bay Cruise, Transfer Back to Hanoi
1 stop
13
Halong Bay
In the early morning, participate in the Tai Chi class on the sundeck and enjoy morning tea or coffee. Then have a few hours' land tour to get close to local people and taste home-made fruits and local wine. Afterwards, return back to the cruise and have a sumptuous brunch. You’ll arrive on the dock at around noon and your driver will pick you up and transfer you to the hotel in Hanoi.
2 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 7
Fly to Dong Hoi, Airport Pick-up
1 stop
14
Dong Hoi
At the appointed time, your guide will pick you up at the hotel and then escort you to the airport for a 1-hour flight to Dong Hoi. After landing, you’ll be warmly welcomed by the local guide and then be taken to the hotel to enjoy the rest time of the day on your own. We’ve carefully selected two hotels for you to choose from. One is a luxury neo-classical high-rise on the riverside, right next to beach and Dong Hoi Market. Rent a bicycle out of your own purse to explore the city's historical and cultural sites like Quang Binh Museum and Mother Suot Monument. The other is a traditional-style eco-resort beside the lake, where you can go boating and fishing if time permits.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
Day 8
Dong Hoi Day Trip to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
1 stop
15
After breakfast, we will drive to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which is a scenic region featuring complicated and various karst landforms as well as deep and miraculous limestone caves. While there, you will take a boat to explore the mysterious Phong Nha Caves. After viewing the peculiar stalactites, you can visit the long and large Paradise Cave. Then, we will drive back to the hotel.
5 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 9
Dong Hoi Half Day Trip with Vinh Moc Tunnels, Drive 3 Hours to Hue
3 stops
16
After breakfast, we’ll first visit the Vinh Moc Tunnels, which was built by Vietnamese soldiers in the 1960s to ensure the safety of local people during the Vietnam War. Get inside this three-story tunnel escorted by your experienced guide and imagine the underground daily life of the whole town at that time. Explore the meeting rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, wells, living rooms and access to the sea, and even maternity room, as well as a small museum. Although with a small scale, twists and turns of the tunnel make it easy to get lost, so please follow your guide closely.
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
17
Then head to the Hien Luong Bridge and overlook the scenic Ben Hai River. Afterwards, visit the Quang Tri Citadel, a red base with more than 200 years' history, and the La Vang, a major holy center for Vietnamese Catholics.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
18
Hue
After that, we’ll drive for around 3 hours to Hue and stay for 2 nights.
3 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 10
Hue: Visit Tomb of Minh Mang, Thien Mu Pagoda, Imperial City & Dong Ba Market
4 stops
19
After breakfast, we’ll visit the Tomb of Minh Mang, the grandest among all royal tombs in Hue. Strolling around its symmetrical layout enlivened by lush vegetation everywhere, you’d exclaim it isn’t so much a mausoleum as a huge park!
1 hour • Admission ticket included
20
Thien Mu Pagoda
Next, our guide will accompany you to take a private dragon boat, unlike most other travel agencies’ taking a car ride, along the Perfume River to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda. While sailing along the verdurous river, snap a photo of the ancient pagoda standing beside the river. Then disembark to explore its interior and climb to the top floor to have a panoramic view of the river.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
21
Hue Imperial City (The Citadel)
Afterwards, cross a moat to admire the UNESCO-preserved Imperial City, which is a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, as well as the Purple Forbidden City inside. From the elements like Chinese red walls and tiled roofs as well as French-style decorations, you’ll see the integration of Eastern and Western cultures.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
22
Dong Ba Market
Finally, visit the Dong Ba Market, which supplies almost the entire city with food and clothing.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
Day 11
Hue - Hai Van Pass - Non Nuoc Beach - Hoi An
3 stops
23
Today, we’ll drive to Hoi An and along the way, stop by the beautiful Hai Van Pass and the Non Nuoc Beach, both with spectacular coastal sceneries.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
24
Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture
Then get off to visit the Museum of Cham Sculpture. Cham is an ancient ethnic group spread across Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries in Indochina. They share unified writing and language systems, and mainly believe in Hinduism and localized Islam. They once established the famous Kingdom of Champa, which flourished during 192-1802, in southern and central regions of Vietnam.
40 minutes • Admission ticket included
25
The Marble Mountains
ontinue to the Marble Mountains to see its amazing natural limestone caves with Buddhist worshipped inside. As sunlight filters in through the holes of stalactite domes, you will find the Buddha statues sacredly illuminated. The paths are maze-like and the steps are steep, so please wear comfortable non-slip shoes as we will walk with a little effort. Upon arrival in Hoi An, check in at the hotel and the rest of the day is free for you.
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
Day 12
Hoi An Ancient Town Walking & Boat Trip
1 stop
26
Hoi An Ancient Town
After breakfast, we’ll set out for a walking tour in Hoi An Ancient Town, once an important trading port in Southeast Asia frequented by Chinese, Japanese and even European traders, especially the former two, in the 17th century. Consequently, the authority allowed them to establish separate residential streets here, which gradually integrated into local Vietnamese culture. We’ll admire all these through a wander around the Chua Ong Pagoda, the Chinese Assembly Hall and the Japanese Bridge, as well as the Tan Ky Old House, a well-preserved merchant’s residence, nearly 300 years old, where 7 generations of Le family have lived. To protect the heritage, the builders cleverly used a pulley system to lift furniture from the rising water when flood happened. Afterwards, take a short boat trip to visit an island village.
6 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 13
Hoi An: Vietnamese Food Cooking Class & Visit to My Son Sanctuary
2 stops
27
In the morning, a cooking class will be arranged for a hands-on experience of Vietnamese food culture. Your guide and driver will pick you up to meet your teacher at Hai Scout Cafe. The teacher will take you to Hoi An market to choose some local ingredients, and then take a boat to the cooking school. Upon arrival, visit the exotic vibrant herb garden, where we will pick some plants to spice up your dishes. In the next 1.5 hours, you’re formally learning the recipes of 4-6 Vietnamese dishes, like shrimp rice paper rolls, Quang Nam chicken noodles and Hoi An pancakes, as well as how to carve out tomato roses and Vietnamese fans. After class, enjoy the dishes you just made by yourself. When you're done, take the cruise back to meet your guide.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
28
My Son Sanctuary
After lunch, delve into Champa Empire in the My Son Sanctuary, which is a World Cultural Heritage site and known as the little Angkor Wat. It is the most important Hindu shrine left over from the once prosperous kingdom of Champa, dedicated mainly to the king and the god Shiva. More than 70 brick-and-stone Hindu temples and pagodas were built, from the 4th to the 13th century; however, due to wars, you can see only 20 ruins now. Your guide will take you to the era of the lost civilization in this open-air history museum and appreciate the skills and art of stone carving and aesthetics of Champa people. After the visit, return back to the hotel.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 14
Fly to Nha Trang: Visit Po Nagar Cham Tower, Long Son Pagoda and Dam Market
4 stops
29
Da Nang
Today we’ll drive for about 1.5 hours to Da Nang Airport for your flight to Nha Trang. After landing, you’ll meet your local guide at the exit and then be escorted to the hotel.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket free
30
Then your guide will accompany you to visit the Po Nagar Cham Tower, a three-story tower complex dedicated to Lady Po Nagar, revered as a goddess by the Chams to protect coastal residents, especially fishermen. When you see these towers, you’ll find them resembling My Son Sanctuary we visited the day before. There once were totally 8 towers during the 7th-12th century; however, only 4 have survived to this day
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
31
Then head to the foot of Trai Thuy Mountain to admire the nearly 200-year-old Long Son Pagoda. Climb up the steps to marvel at the Lying Buddha. When you reach the summit of the temple, worship the Gautama Buddha as high as 24 meters (nearly 79 feet), and have a bird's eye view of Nha Trang.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
32
After worshipping these sacred and peaceful gods, stroll around the Dam Market and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city. Afterwards, you can have fun on the beach by yourself. We’ve chosen a beachfront hotel for you to fully enjoy the sands and sample local seafood. You may explore the activities offered by the hotel, like Nha Trang's famous mud bath at Mia Resort and a traditional cooking class at Havana Nha Trang Hotel. A browse around Nha Trang Night Market for local street food and straw souvenirs at your own expense is also a delight.
30 minutes • Admission ticket included
Day 15
Free Day in Nha Trang
1 stop
33
Today is free for you to enjoy the coastal charms of Nha Trang. Playing beach volleyball with friends or strangers, taking sunbath, swimming and diving are all available here. You can consult the reception for a through ticket and go enjoy the beauty of the islands. Go dive in Hon Mun Island (Black Island), a mecca with a coral reserve for scuba enthusiasts. Don't worry if you can't dive, there will be a professional instructor to take you around. It would be rocky on the beach, so it’s better to wear beach shoes. Or head to the Mini Island, a more pristine one where you can leisurely soak up the sun, swim in the clear water, or join in parasailing and banana boat ride.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 16
Free Day in Nha Trang
1 stop
34
Today is a free day as well. You can enjoy your time strolling around or riding along the coastline, or have an excursion to Ba Ho Waterfall, where a series of waterfalls cascade down and a river weaves along rocks, passing evergreen forests and forming three pools of different heights. Feel the excitement of climbing the rocks, kayaking and jumping into the pools. On your way back to the hotel, stop by the Hon Chong Promontory, one of whose rocks is imprinted with a giant five-fingered handprint. Stand on the protruding rocks that stretch out towards the sea and feel the crashing of the waves. If you stay at Mia Resort, there's a hiking area nearby - Hoang Nguu Son. Follow picturesque paths to trek through the jungle, then the overgrown meadows, and finally the rocks to get to the top of the mountain. When night falls, maybe round off your beach trip with a seafood feast.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 17
Drive to Da Lat, Visit Bao Dai Summer Palace, Xuan Huong Lake, and Central Market
2 stops
35
In the morning, we’ll drive to Da Lat, a mountain city with an average annual temperature of around 20°C, making it see flowers blooming all year round. En route, get off to appreciate an idyllic countryside. If you come during December to January every even-numbered year, you may encounter the lively Da Lat Flower Festival. As the city has a large temperature difference between morning and night, it is recommended to bring a coat. Upon arrival, your guide will help you check in at the hotel first and then accompany you to visit the Bao Dai Summer Palace, a French-style summer residence of Vietnam’s last emperor, Pau Dai (reigned 1926-1945).
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
36
Then, sightsee the Old Da Lat Railway Station, the Xuan Huong Lake, the Central Market and the Lam Ty Ni Pagoda in succession. After the visit, you’ll have a basic understanding of this city's history and culture.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
Day 18
Da Lat Half Day Trip, Fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
2 stops
37
Linh An Pagoda
Today's sightseeing will start from the Tanung Village. On the way there, we will go through aromatic flowers, verdant pine trees, and vast farmlands for visits to a rice wine workshop and a coffee plantation. If in the appropriate season, you could pay a visit to a cricket farm or a silk-worm factory as well. Upon arrival in the village, your guide will company you to visit the Elephant Waterfall and Linh An Pagoda, a magnificent Buddhist temple where you’ll admire the seven-story statue of Bodhisattva of Compassion. Take a walk around her feet to pray for good luck. Then walk up the stairs inside the statue, enjoy beautiful paintings on the walls and climb to the top to enjoy a panorama of the forest, where the fall plunges off a cliff.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
38
Ho Chi Minh City
After the visit, head to the airport to catch a 1-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Upon arrival, you’ll be picked up and escorted to the hotel.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
Day 19
Ho Chi Minh City: Cu Chi Tunnels & Reunification Palac
4 stops
39
Cu Chi Tunnels
After breakfast, follow your guide to explore the Cu Chi Tunnels, which is much larger than the Vinh Moc Tunnels we visited in Dong Hoi. With a total length of 121 kilometers (75 miles), the underground tunnel complex with narrow space and poor conditions was an important base used by the Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The three-story structure functions as a large military barracks, containing rooms for hospital, meeting, sleeping, food storage, and military trap.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
40
War Remnants Museum
In the afternoon, continue to visit the War Remnants Museum, the only museum in Vietnam included in the UNESCO list of Peace Museums. In the outside area, relive history from the exhibited used-in-war planes, tanks and artillery weapons. Then go inside the museum and be awed by the sobering displays and photographs illustrating that how Vietnamese suffered during war.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket included
41
After that, learn more about how this country finally got reunified in the Reunification Palace.
1 hour • Admission ticket included
42
Central Post Office
Then, proceed to Central Post Office, opposite which sits he city’s largest church - Notre Dame Cathedral, and stroll along the Dong Khoi Street. These architectures are all located in the city center and could be visited on foot.
40 minutes • Admission ticket free
Day 20
Ho Chi Minh City - My Tho - Mekong River Cruise - Can Tho
1 stop
43
Today, a wonderful Mekong River cruise awaits you! In the morning, we’ll drive for around 2 hours to My Tho to board the cruise. In order to take you away from the heavily commercialized area and explore deep into the Mekong River, we’ve arranged for you to change to a hand-rowing boat before getting into the smaller waterway. Sailing through the river lined with water coconut trees, try on the boatman's bamboo hat as well as catch a glimpse of the stilted houses along the bank and local people fishing and trading goods on the river. Halfway through, you’ll go ashore to visit a rice paper factory and a coconut candy factory, where you’ll see the whole process of how traditional coconut candies are made - free sampling round the corner! Today's lunch will be served on an island - you can eat dragon fruit with chili salt like the locals. After that, we’ll continue to drive to Can Tho.
4 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 21
Can Tho - Cai Rang Floating Market - Ho Chi Minh City
1 stop
44
Cai Rang Floating Market
After breakfast, your guide will accompany you to take a boat to visit the life-buzzing Cai Rang Floating Market, which best embodies the water life of the people in Mekong Delta. When arriving, enjoy the scene teeming with variegated boats loaded with fresh fruits like jackfruit, rambutan and durian, vegetables, various handicrafts and even breakfast like Vietnamese rice noodles, spring rolls and coffee! Why not try some? You’ll see that the boats have bamboo poles sticking out, hung with all kinds of offerings and acting like a menu. Lingering longer along the River, you’ll find some of the boats are actually family homes, where the boatman and his family are living and doing business for generations. In addition, you will also explore some tropical fruit orchards. Afterwards, we’ll drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.
3 hours • Admission ticket included
Day 22
Departure from Ho Chi Minh City, Airport See-off
1 stop
45
Ho Chi Minh City
Your 3 weeks Vietnam tour itinerary will come to an end today. According to your flight schedule, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel and escort you to the airport for your flight home. We hope you have had a great time with us in Vietnam and we’ll have another chance to serve you in other counties. Wish you a nice journey home.
1 hour • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

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