Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi 12 Day Tour

Your 12 day Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi tour begins at Tan Son Nhat airport, where you will arrive and find the driver with your name board. We will take the short drive to the centre of the city, where your hotel awaits. Relax after check-in or explore the city at your leisure.

Have breakfast at your hotel and take the nearly 2-hour drive to the northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. We will arrive in the wild jungle, underneath which lies the Cu Chi Tunnels.

After a brief historical introduction to the tunnels, we head below the jungle floor and into the 250km span of the Cu Chi Tunnels. We will look around a segment of the tunnels that includes hospital quarters, classrooms, storage facilities and command centres, all built by local Viet Cong farmers. Afterwards, we return to the jungle and try our best to locate some of the incredibly well-camouflaged trap doors and entrance holes that were the best defence against American and Viet Minh troops during the war.

We will have our lunch at a nearby restaurant before we return to Ho Chi Minh City.

Back in the former capital of South Vietnam, we have a tour of some of the city’s most important sites, starting with the War Remnants Museum. We can learn more about the history of the Vietnam War here before we proceed to either the Museum of Vietnamese History, providing accounts of the evolution of Vietnamese culture, or the Reunification Palace, which is where the war was ended in 1975.

We continue our afternoon tour at the Saigon Central Post Office and neighbouring Notre Dame Cathedral, both of which are constructed in fine French colonial style. The tour finishes after our last stop at Binh Tay Market in Saigon’s vibrant China Town, where we can shop for great deals on souvenirs and south Vietnamese specialities.

Breakfast at the hotel starts the day off nicely. After this, the driver will arrive in order to drive you southward for two hours to the Mekong Delta. We stop at the province of Ben Tre, often referred to as ‘Vietnam’s Coconut Kingdom’, due to the huge amounts of coconut trees that stand swaying over the Mekong River and its estuaries.

We head straight to the pier in the capital of Ben Tre, where we find a motorised boat poised and ready to take us out onto the Mekong River. Our cruise will lead us along the Mekong, where we can stop on fertile shores to explore some of the fantastic coconut scenery flecked with nipa palm and other lush tropics. On these shores, we also find handicraft workshops, where small groups of people create humble crafts with a distinctly local flavour.

Next, we choose between a bicycle and a motorised rickshaw in order to head along village paths, flanked by beautiful vegetation on every side.

At a local restaurant, we have lunch while overlooking the placid flow of the Mekong River.

We start the afternoon with a row boat across beautiful backwaters, where greenery rises up on both sides in the form of luxuriant nipa palm and swaying palm trees. We head back to Ho Chi Minh City in a bus that will be waiting for us on the shore.

Arrive in Ho Chi Minh around 5.30 PM. End of your day trip to Ben Tre.

Enjoy breakfast and some free time in Ho Chi Minh City. The driver will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the airport for your domestic flight to Da Nang.

Once you have met the driver in Da Nang, you can take the transfer to Hoi An across the 30km of road connecting the two cities. In Hoi An, you can check into your hotel and use whatever is left of the day as free time. Perhaps you would like to soak up your first views of the coast, which is speckled with white sand and a deep blue sea at Cua Dai Beach and An Bang Beach.

Rise at whatever time suits you for breakfast today, as you have a free day to enjoy in Hoi An. Perhaps you could spend this at My Son Sanctuary, one of the lasting relics of the Champa kingdom, which constructed these Hindu temples in the middle of the jungle outside of Hoi An. Alternatively, check out more of Hoi An on a tour of its Ancient Town, which features much of the beauty of the UNESCO-recognised site and a lot of its most important history. 

Once again, take breakfast when you want and plan the day ahead. You could spend your second free day in the outskirts of Hoi An, seeing the ancient methods behind local crafts, available for viewing at Kim Bong carpenter village and Thanh Ha Pottery Village. Alternatively, you can head to Da Nang for the day, where you can see the impressive Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra Mountain, or progress slightly further to the Hai Van Pass, one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world.

Enjoy your last breakfast in the central regions of Vietnam, Your transfer to Da Nang airport will be swift, and you will be able to catch your flight to Hanoi very quickly. 

Once arrived in the capital of Vietnam, the new driver will take you from the airport to the central region of the city, where we will find your hotel nestled amongst the streets of the Old Quarter. Use any free time after this to take a stroll around the Old Quarter, where history and beautiful architecture meet in attractive style.

Take your first breakfast in the capital of Vietnam before our guide and driver arrive. We will begin the full-day Hanoi city tour at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where we can learn more about the great leader so highly revered in Vietnam. We do this at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the former stilt house residence of the Vietnamese president, while also seeing elements of ancient Hanoi at the One Pillar-Pagoda and colonial Hanoi at the French-built Presidential Palace.

Following this, we head over to the Temple of Literature, where we can see Vietnam’s first university in all of its glory. The walls, gates and temples provide some of the attractive architecture on display, while the lush gardens add a peaceful atmosphere, treasured by the past students who studied the teachings of Confucius here.

Lunch at a local restaurant will follow this, as will the transfer to one of Hanoi’s many museums. You will have a choice of which museum you would like to view from a list including Hoa Lo Prison Museum, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts or the Vietnam Military History Museum. Our guide will provide a brief introduction for you to make the choice easier.

Our last activity of the day is a tour around Hanoi Old Quarter, which will reveal the beauty and intriguing history of Hanoi. We enjoy a tour of Hanoi’s street food, famous throughout Asia and beyond for its rich taste and ready availability.

Please Note: The exact itinerary that you follow may vary from the one listed below. This is a generic itinerary and may not reflect the destinations and activities of the cruise that you book with us.

Have breakfast before the arrival of the driver, who will be taking us across the Reed River Delta and ending at the northeastern coast of Vietnam, where we will find Halong Bay.

Once arrived, we board the boat and set sail into the maze of limestone mountains ahead of us. We dine on a delicious seafood buffet at this point, soaking up the magical views on offer all around us. Take the time to relax on the sundeck or in the cabin, as the mountains, beaches and caves glide silently past us through the window.

Our first activity stop is to the fishing village of Cua Van, where about 300 residents live on floating rafts surrounded by forested mountain ranges. We board a kayak or a sampan boat to head through the colourful village, noting examples of an exceptional life lived on the surface of Halong Bay.

Return to the boat and proceed to the next destination, the glorious Trong Cave. This magnificent cavern contains very well-preserved stalactites and stalagmites, which we can admire on a walk through. The entrance to the cave presents an amazing frame with which to view the beauty of the bay beyond.

After this, the cruise will welcome us back and we will settle into the party held during a memorable sunset. Enjoy drinks at happy hour prices while you mingle with fellow passengers and share photos from the day. Dinner will follow this in the dining room, after which passengers can relax however they like on board.

Soak up the views of the sunrise during a tai chi session on the sundeck, soon to be followed by breakfast in the dining room below.

Take the morning to relax before our excursion to Titop Island, where we have three activities to enjoy. These involve relaxing on the beach, swimming in the sea or hiking for 20 minutes to the highest, central point of the island, where panoramic views over Halong Bay abound.

Return to the cruise for the final time for a cooking demonstration led by the chef, followed by a filling brunch. We disembark at the harbour after this and head back across the Red River Delta on the bus, arriving in Hanoi in the late afternoon. End of 2 day 1 night on Halong Bay Overnight Cruise.

After breakfast, you can enjoy your free day in Hanoi in any way that you desire. You could choose to head out of the city and enjoy Ninh Binh province to the south on a full-day tour, or alternatively, head to the southern stretches of Hanoi province for a tour of the outstanding Perfume Pagoda. If you would prefer to stay in the city, there are many wonderful parks, temples and lakes to keep you busy.

See the tour to Hoa Lu Tam Coc at the link: https://www.vietnamescapetours.com/tours/tam-coc-hoa-lu-day-tour-from-hanoi.html 

Enjoy breakfast and your final hours in Hanoi. The driver will arrive at your hotel about 3 hours prior to your flight to transfer you to the airport.

This will be the end of your 12 day tour around Vietnam. We are pleased to have served you at every step of your journey and we look forward to seeing you back in our beautiful country!