Best of Vietnam Tour 15 Days

After you have proceeded through customs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, you will meet the driver at the arrivals gate. From here, we will head into the centre of the city, where the driver will drop you off at the hotel and you can enjoy your first day in Vietnam at your leisure.

Notes: Check-in at the hotel is available from any time after 14:00

Take breakfast at the hotel and then transfer to the northwest of the city, where we will find the Cu Chi Tunnels amidst untamed jungle. After a brief introduction to the tunnels, we go inside and head through the maze-like structure, which features underground hospitals, weapons storages and even classrooms.

We emerge to the jungle floor through one of the fantastically well-camouflaged entrance pits, taking a stroll around the jungle and trying to find more entrance holes and trap doors. 

On the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City, we stop for lunch, continuing onto the city afterwards to start our tour.

This begins first with a trip to the Reunification Palace, which stands as a monument of the Fall of Saigon in 1975, when it was forcefully knocked down by a North Vietnamese tank. After this, we head to the War Remnants Museum for a more comprehensive look at the Vietnam War. At the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Saigon Central Post Office after this, we see examples of French colonialism in Ho Chi Minh City, dating back to the 19th century. This comes before the return to your hotel in the late afternoon. End of Ho Chi Minh City And Cu Chi Tunnels Day Tour.

Rise early for breakfast today, as we leave with a good time to make the Cai Be floating market, one of the centuries-old traditional markets taking place daily on the Mekong River. After a 2-hour drive south, we find the market in full operation atop the river, with vendors positioning their stock on wooden boats, and buyers using motorised boats to flit between them. 

After browsing this highly unique market, we head onto land to find a local workshop, where we can learn of some of the specialty foods of the Mekong Delta, many of which feature coconut. We will take a tour of the workshops creating these delicacies, as well as those making use of the region’s exquisitely fresh seafood.

Lunch here will be a highly local affair, featuring the best of the Mekong Delta’s famous cuisine.

We return to the water in the afternoon, taking a row boat around the Mekong River and its estuaries. We see examples of a humble daily life lived by the locals, along with farms and orchards growing the best of Vietnam’s tropical produce in this highly abundant region. We can get a better understanding of these products by disembarking onto land and having a look around a nursery garden for young fruit trees, soon to yield rambutans, lychees, pineapples, coconuts and all kinds of other exotic fruits.

The car will transport us to Can Tho city, the unofficial capital of the Mekong Delta, where we can check into the hotel and have the late afternoon and evening to relax.

Once again, we rise early for breakfast and head out to Cai Rang Floating Market, a market like Cai Be, but with a few notable differences. After a browse around the floating shops, and maybe some snacks cooked directly on a boat, we head to Ho Chi Minh City’s airport and catch the flight to Da Nang.

In Da Nang, you will find the driver waiting with your name board and take the transfer southward to Hoi An. Here, you will be able to relax into an afternoon in the fabulously colourful port town.

After breakfast, our guide will arrive at your hotel with bicycles, on which we can cycle into the attractive outskirts of Hoi An. Here, we will find rice paddies stretching for miles, flanked by tropical trees and views of distant mountains.

After 30 minutes of cycling, we arrive at Tra Que, a village known for its organic farming and the delicious produce that springs forth from its soil. Once here, we meet a local farmer and get a hands-on experience of the daily lives led by those living in the vast fields outside of Vietnam’s cities. We can help to sow, water and pick the vegetables from the ground as our guide and host farmer explain the process that takes this product from the ground to the plate. 

Take a breather after this and have a walk around the village. You can help to prepare lunch next with our host family, who will invite you into their home to sit down for a fresh afternoon meal. This will consist of Nem Rán (fried spring rolls), Bánh Xeo (crispy shrimp pancakes) and more, as we get a feel for the rich tastes of central Vietnam.

After this hearty meal, we will relax in Tra Que until the early afternoon, after which we will cycle or take the car back to the centre of Hoi An. 

From here, you have the opportunity to enjoy free time, so maybe you would like to spend it on your first visit to the beaches of Vietnam, available at Cua Dai or An Bang.

Soak up the beautiful morning atmosphere of Hoi An with breakfast at the hotel, followed by a day of whatever you like. You could soak up the evocative history of the Champa Kingdom at the nearby My Son Sanctuary, or instead aim for the total paradise of the Cham Islands off the northwest coast of Hoi An. Alternatively, stay in the city itself for a look around the fabulous Ancient Town and the wealth of colourful history to be found here.

Take breakfast at the hotel and enjoy your final few hours in Hoi An, perhaps to pick up any clothes that you have ordered from the town’s outstanding tailors. The drive to Da Nang airport will follow this, as will your flight to Hanoi.

Step foot into northern Vietnam and locate the driver, who will take you to your hotel in the centre of the city. Once arrived, you can check in and take whatever is left of the day as free time in the capital. You can spend this simply walking around the Old Quarter, which is a fascinating and history-soaked district, stopping for coffee and a look around Dong Xuan Market on the way.

We will start your Hanoi City Tour after breakfast with a transfer to Ba Dinh Square and its various tributes to Ho Chi Minh. We will look around a few of the places here, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, housing the leader’s embalmed body, and his former stilt house residence located just behind. There is also the One-Pillar Pagoda and Presidential Palace available for viewing, which will give us an architectural history lesson both in ancient Vietnamese and colonial French construction.

Following this we make our way to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s beautiful first university built in 1070. The students here practiced the teachings of Confucius in the verdant garden spaces, while also paying respects to the great Chinese philosopher in the temple.

We take a break after this for lunch and to discuss our next destination. You will have a choice of museums to pick from, including the Ethnology Museum, Vietnam Military History Museum, Hoa Lo Prison Museum or the Fine Arts Museum, all of which our guide will introduce before you select your preferred once.

After a walk around the museum, we continue the tour in Hanoi Old Quarter with a stroll around the ancient streets and alleyways. We find evidence of the 36 guilds that settled here from provinces all around Vietnam, along streets bearing the titles of the craftsmen who relocated here.

The tour ends at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, where we can watch a heavily traditional form of art born from the rice paddies of northern Vietnam. We drop you off at the hotel after this for you to relax into a magical evening in the capital.

After breakfast, the driver will pick you up from the hotel and take you northwards to the city of Thai Nguyen, where we will find the Museum of Vietnamese Ethnic Culture. Here we can learn about some of the fascinating ethnic minorities living throughout Vietnam, a few of which we will meet over the coming days in the far north.

We continue our drive and end at Pac Ngoi, a beautifully humble village constructed of wooden stilt houses around the shores of Ba Be Lake. This is an enclave of the Tay ethnic group, one family of which will welcome us into their homestay. We will have lunch with the warmly welcoming family here and learn more about the colourful traditions of the Tay people. 

Following this, we take a boat across the breath-taking Ba Be Lake, admiring the flat and shimmering beauty of the surface and the limestone mountains that rise up around it. We cruise around this perfect scene for a few hours, finding islands of blooming tropical scenery and a serenity that can only be achieved in nature this pristine.

A fabulous sunset will signal the end of our boat trip, so we will return to Pac Ngoi village and our stilt house homestay. We have dinner with our host family before enjoying the tranquility of Pac Ngoi and its ceiling of stars.

Following a wonderfully local breakfast, we will bid a fond farewell to our homestay hosts and continue northwards in the car. Our destination is Cao Bang province, where we stop first at Phuoc Sen, a village known for its production of farming and household tools. The people who live here belong to the Nung ethnic group, who are noticeable by their distinctive black clothes and their activities in blacksmithing and farming.

After this, we proceed to the border of Vietnam and China, where we will find the jaw-dropping Ban Gioc Waterfalls encompassing both countries. We take lunch here before delving into the fantastic nature on show, projected in the falls, the neighbouring rice paddies and the outstanding mountain ranges that provide the perfect backdrop.

You will have much of the afternoon as free time at Ban Gioc, where you can engage in activities such as swimming in the rock pools or enjoying a boat trip along the placid waters. With Ban Gioc being one of Vietnam’s most impressive sites, you may simply want to walk around the falls and take photographs from all of its best angles.

After a good amount of time here, we continue onto Nguom Ngao Cave, often called the Tiger Cave because of its magnificent former residents. The stone stalactites and stalagmites around here have taken remarkable and fascinating shapes over time, which we will see on a walk through. We also learn of the history of the cave and its use in hiding Vietnamese villagers during a brief border war with China in the late 20th century.

We end the day in Cao Bang City after the transfer here. You can check into your hotel and enjoy the evening in one of Vietnam’s most northern provinces.

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we begin our return to Hanoi, heading past some incredible vistas of verdant valleys, their bordering rice terraces and the forest mountain ranges that offer a protective border.

We will make several stops along the way for photos and to enjoy the different cultures of ethnic villages en route. We have lunch on the way and relish the tranquil atmosphere afforded by quiet roads in this mountainous landscape.

Arrive Hanoi in the late afternoon and you end 3-day Ba Be Lake and Ban Gioc Waterfalls. We will check you into your hotel and you will enjoy the late afternoon and evening at your leisure.

Please Note: The cruise that you select during your booking with us may have a different itinerary than the one listed below. Most 3-day cruises follow the pattern of this itinerary, though there may be small differences in the destinations visited and some aspects of the cruise ship itself.

Halong Bay Cruise Tour will be one of the most highlighted days of The Best Of Vietnam Tour – 15 Day. You will visit one of the natural world Heritage Site. 

Morning

Take breakfast in the hotel and prepare for one of the most exciting days of the tour, the first day of your 3-day, 2-night Halong Bay cruise. This begins with a transfer to Halong Bay from your hotel, where we will arrive at about midday to find our magnificent cruise waiting for us.

Afternoon

We board the cruise and savour a delicious lunch before heading into the limestone maze of mountains in front of us. You will have several hours to relax around the cruise, with our first stop coming in the mid-afternoon. This will be to Vung Vieng fishing village, one of the few remaining residences of local people living in the bay, constructed of colourful homes on floating rafts. We will kayak or be rowed around the village by a local, who will show us this evocative world before a background of jungle-covered karsts.

Evening

We return to the cruise after this and soak up the incredible atmosphere of a sunset behind the mountains. This is accompanied with happy hour and a small party thrown on the sundeck, where the chef will put on a wonderful cooking demonstration before a delicious dinner. Enjoy your evening meal and the serenity of the nighttime directly afterwards.

Morning

Rise early and enjoy tai chi on the top deck of the cruise, after which lunch will be served downstairs. Enjoy this before you pack your day bag and transfer to the day boat, on which we will be able to explore the more hidden areas of Halong Bay.

We start this with a trip to Tien Ong Cave, one of the oldest of Halong’s limestone caverns. We can find evidence of human inhabitation dating back tens of thousands of years, as well as a host of stalactites and stalagmites that would have amazed Tien Ong’s early residents.

Afternoon

Return to the day boat and have a fabulous lunch on board. We will set sail for our next destination, crawling slowly along the quieter waters of inner Halong Bay. We end at Soi Sim Beach, a fabulous strip of natural white sand looking out onto the perfect gallery of limestone and sea ahead. A few hours of relaxation here will offer the utmost serenity and beauty.

We return to the main cruise and relax in the cabin or on the sundeck for the rest of the afternoon.

Evening

Take in more spectacular views of the sunset and the social atmosphere at the accompanying party. Another spectacular dinner in the restaurant will usher in another peaceful evening on board.

Try another tai chi session on the sundeck as the morning light emerges across the bay. A light breakfast will follow this, along with the drive to our final destination – Titop Island. We will relax here for a while, taking in the views from the beach or the sea, or even from the viewing platform at the top of the island, where much of the beauty of Halong Bay can be seen in one go.

Return to the ship for a final brunch as we begin our cruise back to the harbour. We disembark back on the mainland, where our bus will be waiting to take us back to Hanoi.

We arrive at your hotel after passing along the Red River Delta, leaving you with time to enjoy the final evening of your tour in Hanoi.

Take breakfast and the last of your free time in Hanoi to absorb Vietnam’s magical atmosphere. The drive to the airport will follow this, with plenty of time before your onwards flight. 

It was an honour to serve you for 15 days across the best of Vietnam. We wish you well for your onward flight and we hope to see you back here in the future!