Compare Amazing Vietnam 16 days by Insight Asia Travel vs Highlights of Vietnam by Exodus Travels

Day 1: Welcome to Hanoi

Meals: Dinner

Overnight: Hanoi

Warm welcome upon your arrival in Hanoi by your local guide.  Private transfer to your hotel located in the downtown.  Enjoy a cyclo ( trishaw) riding around Hanoi Old Quarter with last stop at the famous Thang Long Water Puppet Theater for a Water Puppet Show – a unique art performance. Welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 2: Hanoi Free Choice: Sightseeing - Street Food - Dinning | Overnight: Hanoi

Widely acknowledged as one of the loveliest cities in Asia, this one-thousand-year old city offer you its unique images that totally different from other Asian cities. Hanoi still retains a small-town provincial charm and unique intermingle with a French legacy wide, tree-lined boulevards, parks, grand villas and an artistic, café society.

Different people, different interests and tastes. Hanoi Free Choice Sightseeing – Street Food – Dinning offers you the best things that Hanoi has to offer and satisfy you with a personalize discovery and authentic experience. Please select one of the Hanoi city options and one of the Hanoi Surroundings to enjoy the day in Hanoi.

Free Choice Sightseeing of Hanoi city & Surroundings

Full-day city tour ( Maximum 7 places)

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

One Pillar Pagoda

Quan Thanh Temple

Temple of Literature

Bach Ma Temple

Hanoi Ancient House

Tran Quoc pagoda

Sword Lake and Ngoc Son Temple

Vietnam Military History Museum

Vietnam National Museum of History

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

Vietnamese Women’s Museum

Half-day city tour ( Maximum 4 places & One of Free Choice Hanoi Surroundings

Free Choice Hanoi Surroundings

Bat Trang pottery villages

About 13 kilometers south east of Hanoi center, Bat Trang village, established in 14th or 15th century, is famous for ceramic and pottery products of high quality such as vases, bowls, dishes, and many other kinds of ceramic products which have been exported worldwide.

Van Phuc silk village:

About 8 km southwest of Ha Noi, Van Phuc silk village is well known for its traditional sericulture, weaving, and silk products for a long-lasting history of more than two thousand years. The village makes more than 2 million meters of silk per year and is an ideal place for silk products & souvenirs

Duong Lam Ancient village.

Duong Lam ancient village, some 60km to the west of Hanoi, has a history of about 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years. One special thing about the village is that most of the buildings here are made of laterite and mud, two materials that are abundant in the area. The village also has its prestige as two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in here.

Dong Ho painting village

Dong Ho painting village, 30 km to the East of Hanoi, or Vietnamese woodblock prints is a distinct Vietnamese folk art. Dong Ho paintings reflect people’s innermost feelings. Dong Ho paintings is made of of bark of a tree called “Dzo. Colors of the painting are refined from various kinds of tree leaves that people can easily find in Vietnam. Dong Ho paintings have about 300 years of history in the north of Vietnam. It is always considered a symbol of traditional culture and aesthetic value of Vietnam.

Free Choice Street Food – Authentic experiences

 “ Pho Hanoi “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

 “ Banh Cuon “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

 “ Bun Cha Hanoi “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

 “ Bo kho – Beef Stew ” followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

Free Choice Dining :

“Cha Ca Hanoi “ in Hanoi Old Quarter area at local restaurant.

Vegetarian set-menu at local restaurant

Vietnamese set-menu at French building restaurant

Vietnamese cuisine a-la-carte at Ngon restaurant

KOTO restaurant. Know One Teach One unique restaurant.

Day 3: Hanoi – Halong Bay | Meal: B-L-D | Overnight: Traditional Junk

In the morning you leave Hanoi for Halong Bay via the Red River Delta.  Welcome on board. You will set out on a junk cruise on the bay passing by the island, islets: Hoa Cuong fishing village, Soi Sim beach, Ti Top Island, Tung Sau Pearl Farm, Me Cung Cave and to reach one of the largest floating village in Halong Bay “Cua Van Floating Village” while seafood lunch is served.Visit Cua Van Floating Village and experience one of the beautiful place in HaLong bay where you can enjoy kayaking or just seat on the traditional bamboo boat with local people. Enjoy swimming and kayaking in Tung Sau Pearl Farm Village. Back to the junk and enjoy cooking demonstration to discover the Vietnamese cuisine. Evening you enjoy the elegant Paradise dinner with a Traditional Bao Dai dress and photo shoot with captain and manager on board folowed by relax at leisure; enjoy Movie Night, Board Games, and Fishing or Beauty Spa services.

Day 4: Halong Bay - Hanoi

Meal : Brunch

Overnight: Hanoi

Early bird with exercises with Tai chi on the sundeck then enjoy a light breakfast. Explore Thien Canh Son Cave. Watching fruits carving demonstration. Enjoy Ha Long Bay scenery while the junk boat cruising back to shore. Rejoin your car for journey back to Hanoi.

Free Choice Activities

Enjoy some glasses of “Bia hoi Hanoi ” at local pub.

Foot massage

Day 5: Fly to Hue - Cyclo tour

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Overnight: Hue

Enjoy your free time until transfer to Noi Bai airport for flight to Hue. Located in central Vietnam, the World Cultural Heritage Site Hue used to be the Citadel of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1805 to 1945.  Your local guide meets you at the Phu Bai airport for a transfer to hotel. At leisure. Evening meeting with your guide again for a Hue Royal-style dinner tasting some Royal cuisines at local restaurant.

Day 6: Hue Free Choice: Sightseeing - Street Food - Dinning

Overnight: Hue

Besides Hue citadel and tombs, Hue still has a lot to offer you. Hue Sightseeing Freedom of Choices and Meal options will satisfy you. All you have to do is to select one of the Hue city options and one of the Hue Surroundings to explore Hue by your own way.

Free Choice Sightseeing – Hue city

Full-day Hue city tour

Half-day Hue city tour & One of Hue Surroundings

Free Choice Sightseeing – Hue city in details

Half-day city tour (Maximum 4 places) | Full-day city tour ( Maximum 7 places)

Dragon boat to visit the Thien Mu pagoda

King Minh Mang’s tomb

King Tu Duc’s tomb

King Khai Dinh’s tomb

King Gia Long’s tomb

Hue Citadel Complex

Notre Dame Cathedral

Tu Hieu pagoda

Dong Ba market – a paradise for snapshots of daily activities.

Hue Free Choice Surroundings

Phuoc Tich ancient village

Located on the bank of leisurely O Lau River, about 30 kilometers from center of Hue city, Phuoc Tich village, built in 1470, is the symbol of architecture of the central region and famous for traditional pottery. Trip to Phuoc Tich village offers you a view of Centre Vietnam countryside, too.

Thanh Toan village

This is one of the most beautiful villages in Hue. The village, 8km east of Hue, is famous for its beautiful roads, peaceful rural landscape, particularly the tile-roofed bridge, communal houses, clan worshiping houses, traditional festivals, farming practices and local people’s daily activities. You also can join in the village market and taste some local culinary specialties like Hen rice, fish-pancakes, and a wide variety of rice noodles.

Free Choice Hue Street Food – Authentic experiences

“ Bun bo Hue” “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

“ Banh khoai “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese cof/tea/softdrink

“ Cơm Hến “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

“ Nem lụi Hue “ followed by a cup of Vietnamese coffee/tea/softdrink

Free Choice Dining

Hue vegetarian food at local restaurant

Vietnamese set-menu at local restaurant

Dinner with Vietnamese traditional songs on the dragon boat.

Day 7: Hue – Hoi An

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Stay overnight: Hoi An

Today you leave Hue for Hoi An, another World Heritage site in the Central Vietnam. Hoi An is one of the oldest towns in south-east Asia and characterized by a rich blend of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and European architecture. Formerly known as Faifo, the ancient riverside town of Hoi An was a major trading port from the 16th to the 19th century. Journey to Hoi An is travelling over the Hai Van pass where you have a stop for a panoramic view over the Lang Co beach. On the way to Hoi An you may like to stop at one of the interesting places:

1. Museum of Cham Sculpture

2. Marble Mountains and Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village

Day 8: Hoi An & Cooking Class

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Overnight: Hoi An

You start the day with a walking tour to explore the Ancient town with old houses, narrow streets, moss-grown walls, lantern makers and visit Japanese Covered Bridge, Chinese Assembly Halls, Handicraft workshop and enjoy traditional arts performance. Begin you cooking class by a visit the Hoi An colorful market to purchase some of the ingredients for your cooking lesson. Take the Red Bridge boat cruising along the Hoi An river to the cooking school.  On arrival, you explore the cooking school’s herb and vegetable garden and learn about some of Hoi An and Vietnam’s well-known dishes.  The 2-hour cooking lesson includes  a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving . You also have a chance to try some dishes yourselves. Lunch is served included what you have cooked. Back to your hotel. At leisure.

Day 9: Free Choice Hoi An Surroundings - Street Food

Overnight: Hoi An

Today you have a half-day free day for relaxation at the resort, water sports, diving, snorkeling, sunset watching and spend half-day to explore the Hoi An Surroundings to one of its below interesting places:

1. Tra Que Vegetable village by bicycle

Where you can join with gardening activities as preparing the land and fertilizing with seaweed from the local lake, prepare food and join lunch with a local family. It is also good time to relax and learn more about the Vietnamese village.

2. Kim Bong Carpentry village by boat

Formed in the 15 th century by Vietnameses from the Northern Vietnam, Kim Bong carpentry developed vigorously and the occupational village was established with three groups: Ancient architectural construction, civil wooden furniture and shipbuilding. Many carpenters from this village worlked to build Hue Citadel

3. My Son Sanctuary

My Son Sanctuary dates from the 4th to the 13th centuries. It was a unique culture on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owing its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of India. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower temples in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence. The My Son Sanctuary is a remarkable architectural ensemble that developed over a period of ten centuries. It presents a vivid picture of spiritual and political life in an important phase of the history of South-East Asia.

Day 10: Fly to Ho Chi Minh city | Free Choice Sightseeing

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Overnight: HCMC

Again you take an one-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh city. This is a city full of surprises. The city’s core is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards and historic French colonial buildings and offers plenty of reasons to visit, from its blend of historic, attractions to vibrant shopping, dining and nightlife. HCMC Free Choice Sightseeing offer you more about this city. You have dinner on the Lady Hau cruises on the Saigon river.

Free Choice Sightseeing | Maximum 4 places

1. Reunification Palace

2. Municipal Theatre – City Post Office – Notre-Dame Cathedral

3. War Remnants Museum

4. Vinh Nghiem pagoda

5. Hoang De pagoda

6. Ben Thanh market

Day 11: Mekong Delta Excursion - Free Choice Dinning

Meals: Breakfast, Launch and Dinner

Overnight: HCMC

Today you have am excursion to the Mekong Delta. Surrounded by thousands of crisscrossed canals, life in the Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, most of the villages are often accessible by rivers and canals rather than by road. Upon arrival you take a motor-boat to explore the Thoi Son islet, one of the four famous islets ( Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, Phoenix). Following a village path passing local houses to visit some family-run coconut candy mills then you take a horse-cart from village to village. Enjoy lunch with local special dishes followed by the “Southern Vietnamese folk music”, a very common art activity in the Mekong Delta performed by local people. Back to HCMC and enjoy your dinner.

Free Choice Dining :

1. Vegetarian set-menu at local restaurant

2. Vietnamese set-menu at French building restaurant

3. South Vietnamese buffet at local restaurant

Day 12: Fly to Phu Quoc

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Phu Quoc Island

Today you have a short flight for Phu Quoc Island, where white sands and tropical waters entice beachgoers from all over the globe. Snorkeling, scuba diving and fishing are the most popular water sports here, though jet-skiing, wind sailing and squid fishing—yes,  squid fishing—are also at your vacationing fingertips. Joining in the early-morning Duong Dong Market for an authentic local experience.

Day 13 - 15 : Free & Easy

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Phu Quoc Island

Your  free time for relax and enjoy the facilities offered by the resort.  Try some water sports like Snorkeling, scuba diving and fishing or visit some local black pepper farms and high-quality fish sauce factories.

Day 16: Fly to HCMC - Departure

Meals: Breakfast

Enjoy your free time at your hotel or you can do last minute souvenir shopping before a transfer to Phu Quoc airport airport for flight to HCMC to connect your flight home. Have a nice journey. Thanks for joining us.

Day 1 Start Hanoi

Depending on your arrival time, you might like to start exploring this fascinating city by strolling the broad tree-lined avenues dating from the French period. There is a faded colonial charm where baguettes and good coffee are sold from doorways of grand buildings from a past era. There is a welcome briefing this evening with your leader followed by a welcome dinner at KOTO, a social enterprise that trains and employs underprivileged young people. The delicious food provides a fitting welcome to Vietnam and a chance to bond with your group. Accommodation: May De Ville Trendy Hotel & Spa (or similar)

Day 2 To Ha Long Bay; cruise among limestone formations; overnight on boat

We have an early start for the approximate four-hour journey to Ha Long Bay, where roughly 3,000 limestone peaks rise from the emerald sea. Here we board a boat, navigate this amazing karst scenery and enjoy a seafood lunch. We stay overnight in twin-share cabins with private bathrooms. Accommodation: Overnight boat

Day 3 Transfer back to Hanoi; overnight train to Dong Hoi

We continue to cruise around Ha Long Bay this morning before returning to port. We then drive back to Hanoi where we have a bit of free time to explore. You might like to join the local people by pulling up a plastic stool and sampling one of the many street food offerings; the bun cha (barbecued pork with rice noodles and fresh herbs) is particularly good. Late afternoon, we transfer to the train station to board our overnight train to Dong Hoi, 310mi (500km) south of Hanoi. Accommodation: Overnight train

Day 4 Discover the caves of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Arriving at Dong Hoi at sunrise, we take a short transfer to our hotel to freshen up and have breakfast. We then journey (approximately one hour) to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2003, it is home to the oldest karst mountains in Asia, plus hundreds of cave systems and spectacular underground rivers. We first visit Phong Nha cave by boat. After, we stop for lunch before discovering the Thien Duong cave, known locally as Paradise Cave. This was only discovered in 2005 by scientists from the British Cave Research Association with the help of a local man who had heard the mountains ‘whistling’ while farming. In the afternoon, we return to our hotel in Dong Hoi, where we have time to relax and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. Accommodation: Sam Quang Binh Hotel (or similar)

Day 5 To Hue via the war tunnels of Vinh Moc

For early risers, there is an optional visit to the Dong Hoi Fish Market, where buyers and sellers haggle over baskets brimming with the latest catch. We then journey to Hue after breakfast, stopping en route at the Vinh Moc war tunnels. Less well-known than the Cu Chi tunnels in the south, these were predominantly used as bomb shelters during the Vietnam War. Village life carried on underground: children went to school, hospitals were established and films were even played using power from a generator. We next stop at the Hien Luong Bridge which crosses the Ben Hai River, which formed part of the border between North and South Vietnam from 1954 until reunification in 1975. We arrive in Hue mid-afternoon with free time before an optional group dinner. Accommodation: Park View Hotel (or similar)

Day 6 Hue city tour; transfer to Hoi An

It is said that Hue is the cultural and historical centre of Vietnam, and there is plenty to see. The most outstanding sight is the Imperial Citadel, which has walls 6mi (9.5km) long; inside are the palaces and halls of the Mandarins, and the remains of the Forbidden Purple City, where only the emperor, his eunuchs and concubines were allowed. The Forbidden Purple City was almost totally destroyed during the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, but the foliage-covered ruins are still atmospheric and the gaping bomb holes reveal the destruction wreaked upon the country. This morning, we visit the Imperial Citadel and the Thien Mu Pagoda. The pagoda was a centre for anti-government protest in the early 1960s and houses the Austin car that transported monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1963 where he burned himself in protest against the president. The photograph of his self-immolation was printed in newspapers around the world. After lunch, we leave for Hoi An via the spectacular Hai Van Pass, 12mi (19km) of road winds up and over the fortress of mountains providing breath-taking views of the coast. Accommodation: Hoi An Sincerity Hotel & Spa (or similar)

Day 7 Walking tour of Hoi An; free time to explore the market

This morning includes a walking tour of Hoi An, the original European trading port in Vietnam dating to the mid-16th century. It is now a living museum with attractive wooden merchant's houses and pagoda-style temples with Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and European architectural influences. It is also a marvellous place to wander around and enjoy the thriving riverside market and shops selling silk clothes. This afternoon is free. One popular option is to jump on a bike for a ride through the countryside past local markets, schools and villages before continuing to Cua Dai beach (3mi/5km). Accommodation: Hoi An Sincerity Hotel & Spa (or similar)

Day 8 Fly to Ho Chi Minh City; visit main sites

We drive to Da Nang and then fly to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), an exciting and absorbing city where scooters pack the streets and temples stand by modern developments. Devastated by the Vietnam War, it is now a bustling free-market city where anything goes. We include a visit to the Ben Thanh Market, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and War Remnants Museum. The museum has an interesting photographic record of the Vietnam/American War but some images are very graphic. Accommodation: Huong Sen Hotel (or similar)

Day 9 Day trip to Mekong Delta

Journeying out of the city, we head to the lush countryside that is the Mekong Delta for a day tour. Known as the rice bowl of Vietnam, this region produces most of the country’s fruit, sugarcane and coconuts. We take a boat along the many tributaries and stop to see cottage industries along the way. We journey by sampan, a traditional low-riding wooden boat still used by the local people as the main form of transport. After sampling some of the local produce, we return to Ho Chi Minh City where your leader will organise an optional farewell group dinner. Accommodation: Huong Sen Hotel (or similar)

Day 10 End Ho Chi Minh City

Our Vietnam exploration ends today after breakfast. However, if you’re not quite ready for the adventure to stop, speak to your sales representative about our extension to Angkor in Cambodia, probably the standout archaeological site in Southeast Asia.