VIETNAM, LANDSCAPES AND FASCINATION PLACES

Highlights include the wonders of Ha Long Bay, a World Heritage Site, the capital of Hanoi with its fascinating one-column Pagoda, the Temple of Literature. Then it is the turn of Hue, the imperial city in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hoi An, the Cham Mesuem and Marble Mountain in Danang, Nha Trang and then the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta ending in the vibrant city of Ho Chi Minh .

1st day: arrival in Hanoi (D)
Pick up at the airport and then transfer to the hotel by private car with an Italian speaking guide. Free time for rest or walks. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Hanoi.

2nd day: Hanoi city tour (B, L)
AM: departure from your hotel at 8.00, trip to visit the Ho Chi Minh complex, including the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum – the last resting place of the great Vietnamese father or Uncle Ho, and the stilt House of the President Ho Chi Minh , the simple wooden house where he lived from 1958 to 1969, the next place we visit is the pagoda on a column, a group of structures consisting of a pagoda and a tower built in the middle of a square lake. We leave the Pagoda at Pilastro and move to West Lake, visit the Tran Quoc pagoda.

Lunch
PM: After lunch, you will visit the Temple of Literature, followed by the Museum of Ethnology – the most interesting museum in Hanoi with many interesting information and photos related to the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups. Next, visit HoanKiem Lake (Restore Sword Lake). Finally the famous Puppet Show, the puppet show on the water and back to the hotel. Night in Hanoi.

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3rd day: Hanoi-Mai Chau (B, L, D)
Morning: 7.30 am departure for Mai Chau. On the way to Mai Chau you will visit the Hang Pagoda (pagoda of the ancient cave) to enjoy remarkable scenery and get more understanding of the most popular religion, Buddhism.

Set in an idyllic valley, surrounded by hills, the Mai Chau area is a world away from the chaos of Hanoi. The small town of Mai Chau is not attractive, but just off the patchwork of rice fields sprout, dotted with small Thai villages where visitors rest in traditional stilt houses and wake up with the rural soundtrack defined by gurgling irrigation streams and the singing of birds.
The villagers are mostly Thai whites, distantly related to tribes in Thailand, Laos and China. Most do not wear traditional clothes anymore, but Thai women are great weavers and produce a lot of traditional style fabrics. The locals are kind and discreet and despite wanting to sell their productions are never insistent: polite bargaining is the norm.

You will visit a village of Muong ethnic minorities to see the house of the waders and their lives.

Lunch at the restaurant.
Afternoon: Drive to the Lac Village, your area for the night – You can go shopping near the Lac Village. Then you will walk in the middle of Thai villages to see people making traditional clothes and stools. Dinner and overnight in a typical house, a nice experience that we suggest. (Optional – Mai Chau Hideway).

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4th day: Mai Chau – Ninh Binh (B, L)
Breakfast within walking distance of the minority village of Muong. We will visit plum fields and peach gardens to contemplate peaceful and unusual landscapes, a relaxing day among the rice paddies and the Mai Chau landscapes, often used for suggestive backgrounds in many films.

Lunch in the village, then transfer to Ninh Binh, hotel accommodation and night in Ninh Binh.

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5th day: Ninh Binh – Halong (B, L)
Excursion by boat to visit Tam Coc to see the beauty of the karst formations as you pass along the river and row in one of the many caves carved into the limestone rock. Then visit the Bai Dinh Pagoda.
Transfer to Halong, check into Hotel and Night in Halong.

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Day 6: Halong – Hanoi – Hue (B, L) (Night train – Soft sleeper)
Breakfast, transfer to the maritime station, boarding for a day trip for a cruise on Halong Bay. Lunch based on fresh fish will be served on board during the cruise among hundreds of small islands to discover the pristine bays of Halong Bay.
The boat will stop for a visit to the largest cave in the Halong Bay at Sung Sot Cave (Amazing Cave).
After this visit, stop at Titop Island, where you can enjoy a swim or climb the top of the mountain to admire the panoramic view of Halong Bay for fantastic photo shoots.
In the afternoon we return to Hanoi. This afternoon you will take the train to the old imperial city of Hue.

Overnight stay in a first class cabin departing at 19:30.

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7th day: Visit Hue (lunch)
Arriving at Hue around 9:00. Collection and transfer to the hotel.
Then, the driver and guide will take you to the dock of the river to take a trip on the Perfume river to visit the Thien Mu pagoda. Along the river on the Dragon boat you can enjoy the feeling of tranquility with the two sides of the river of the green banks and see the daily life of the local population. Break for lunch at the restaurant.
This afternoon you will continue to visit the mausoleums of the king Nguyen as the tomb of Tu Duc, the tomb of Khai Dinh, and then back to the hotel around 17.00. Overnight at hotel in Hue.

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Day 8: Hue – Hoi An (B, L)
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the center of Hue to visit the Imperial Citadel, where the Nguyen dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945 with many interesting places to see such as the Flag Tower, the Noon Gate, the Nine Dynastic Urns, the Nine Holy Cannons , the Thai Hoa Palace and the Forbidden Purple City.

Transfer to Hoian. We spend some time along the beach of Lang Co, photographing the HaiVan Pass (the passage of Sea and Cloud). Now is the time for an important visit, the Cham Museum in Danang and then the visit of Marble Mountain and successively the sea and the sun of DaNang beach.

Arrival in Hoian. Overnight in Hoian.

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9th day: Hoi An old town (B, L)
In the morning we will organize a trip on the Thu Bon River to visit the handicraft villages (Thanh Ha ceramics village and Kim Bong carpentry village). Continue now with a visit to the Lantern Village. Here you will have a brief introduction on the history, shape and color of the lanterns, as well as the various stages of their realization. You can create your lantern and keep it as a souvenir.
Continue half a day to explore the city of Hoian: the Japanese Covered Bridge, the symbol of Hoian. Go back in time to discover the Chinese street with the beautiful Phuc Kien Hall and the old Phung Hung house typical of the original Hoian architecture. We will then visit the bustling market and the ancient port of Hoi An to explore the rhythm of everyday local life and savor the flavors of the Orient. Finally, we visit the Pagoda Phuc Thanh, the oldest pagoda of Hoi An built in 1454 with Chinese bonzes (monks). Hotel and night in Hoi An

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Day 10: Hoian – Danang – Nha Trang (B, L) (Flight)
Transfer to the airport for the flight to the coastal city of Nha Trang. Pick up and transfer to the hotel in Nha Trang. Short visit to the Tower of Ponagar cham and Long Son pagoda. Relax and free time on the beach. Overnight at Hotel.

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Day 11: Nha Trang (B, L)
It starts from your hotel to the port of Cau Da. The Tri Nguyen aquarium on the island of Mieu is the first place to visit, many marine species in the province of Nha Trang / KhanhHoa form a small oceanic world. Mun Island is the best snorkeling island where you can see many colored lives of corals and fish. You will also be able to see the caves where the sea swallows make their nest. Then relax, swim and do water sports or other activities on Mot Island, Tranh Beach Island or on a small island called “Mini Beach”. Taking a new lunch on the island. On the way back, you will visit a fishing village before going ashore.

Night in Nha Trang

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Day 12: Nhatrang -Dalat (B, L)
After breakfast, we leave NhaTrang for Dalat, the enchanted city of the Highlands. Natural beauty has also inspired Vietnam’s last emperor, Bao Dai, to build a summer house in Dalat in 1933. This original golf course has been redesigned and expanded into a luxurious 18-hole course, which steadily gains high ranks from international sports magazines and draw golfers from all over Asia.
While some of the colonial villas have been beautifully restored, others remain neglected, and the sight of these majestic villas, their moss-covered roofs and their weed-suffused tennis courts, gives the city a poignant air of faded elegance.
The stretch of land from Nha Trang – Dalat (about 150 km) is very visible and photogenic with pine forests, waterfalls, tea and coffee farms and the picturesque alpine pass (“Bellevue Pass”, so called by the French at the beginning of XX century!)
Upon arrival, visit the Datanla waterfall, one of the most beautiful and impressive waterfalls of Lam Dong and the Truc Lam Zen monastery at Phoenix Mountain, one of Vietnam’s most beautiful temples.

Overnight in Dalat.

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Day 13: Dalat -Saigon (B, L)
In the morning, visit the city’s flower garden to contemplate the glorious beauty of various types of flowers, then visit the former palace of emperor Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam. Lunch. Afternoon, transfer to Saigon by private car.

You will pass through immense cultivations of coffee and rubber forests to reach Saigon. Arrival in Saigon in the late afternoon.
The city of Saigon-Hochiminh is famous, called “Little Paris” during the French war and “The Pear of the Far-East” during the US war.
Check in Hotel. Free and easy and overnight in Saigon.

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Day 14: tour of the city of Hochiminh – Cu chi Tunnel (B, L)
Our guides will pick you up at your hotel. Departure from Saigon to the Cu Chi Tunnels (about 50 km). As you know, the Cu Chi tunnels are one of the most famous historical remains of Vietnam. It is a network of 200 km of tunnels connected to each other. You will go to visit the tunnels with kitchens, food and ammunition depots, the medical assistance rooms (a small clinic), the meeting room, the captain’s rooms … etc. The cassava (called KhoaiMi), this was the main food for the Vietcong during the war.
Say goodbye to the Cu Chi tunnels and return to Saigon. Lunch in the beautiful restaurant.
After lunch, take a city tour to visit the city of Saigon-Hochiminh:
You will see … Notre Dame Catheral, built between 1877 and 1883 by the French, most of the materials were transferred from Marseilles (France). Next to the Church, you will see the Post Office Building built in 1886 and finished in 1891 by Gustave Eiffel. Next, the Reunification Palace was built in 1868, called the Norodom Palace and inaugurated in 1873. In 1963, this building was heavily destroyed by bombs. On April 30, 1975, the tanks of the liberation army entered the Independence Palace. After liberation, the Independence Palace became the seat of the city’s military administration committee.
And then you can discover the American Vietnam War in the War Museum where you’ll find an interesting collection of American weapons.
The tour ends with the Ben Thanh market, the products here are abundant, almost all domestic. Night in the hotel.

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Day 15: Mekong Delta – Ben three (B, L)
In the morning transfer to Ben Tre.
On your arrival at Hùngvương Pier (town of Bến Tre) you will board a boat on the Bến Tre River – one of the tributaries of the Mekong River, and you will see activities along the river like fishing and the transfer of many local goods in the water …. … Then visit a brick factory still handmade with a practical traditional style, mold and cooking. Visit one of the many coconut processing shops located along the canal.

Now with the boat you will inflate in small tributaries to go to the village you will visit. Go for a walk in the workshop of mats and enjoy some fruit and tea.
Now you will climb on a moped (xelôi) or by bicycle you will cross, under the shadows of the trees, green rice fields and plains cultivated to be able to touch real life and discover the tropical culture by the peasants. Lunch at the restaurant along the river.
Afternoon: take a rowboat along the palm grove and return to Hùng Vương Pier by boat. Transfer to Saigon.

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Day 16: Ho Chi Minh (B)
Free time until transfer to the airport for your return flight.

Goodbye Vietnam!

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3 STARS HOTEL LIST

Hanoi,          Medallion
NinhBinh, Thuy Anh hotel
Halong,      Saigon Halong
Mai Chau, Village home stay
Hue,           Asia
Hoi An,       Thuy Duong3
Nha Trang, Regalia hotel
Dalat,          Best Western Plaza
Saigon,        Le Duy

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4 STARS HOTEL LIST

Hanoi,        Tirant Hotel
NinhBinh, Legend Hotel
Halong,     Halong Plaza
Mai Chau, Village home stay
Hue,          Moonlight
Hoi An,     Vinh Hung resort
Nha Trang, Green World Hotel
Dalat,        Sammy
Saigon,      Eden saigon

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