Summer is about to be here. What have you planned for your trip with your friends and your family? Like the popular trend of travelers, will you take cruise tour to Halong or just choose one of beautiful beaches such Muine or Nha Trang some days? Or just simply getaway the rush of noise city at weekend? Anyway, do not miss this great news before giving your choice. As the special present for clients, Footprint Vietnam Travel are offering “Summer discount” program for many Vietnam tours up to 17%.

A group of my Vietnamese friends from the US headed by Duong Quang Chan, a businessman, arrived in Ha Noi this week to start a New Year trans-Viet Nam tour and to seek out a suitable place to open a restaurant in the country.

“My friends and I are excited to be back in our homeland which we left almost 30 years ago,” he said.

Domestic and foreign visitors will soon have the chance to learn more about Hanoi and its history by taking a “Thang Long-Hanoi city tour – a journey through history”  specially designed to celebrate of the capital’s forthcoming millennium anniversary.

The tour will take visitors to destinations in Hanoi that have made a significant cultural, humanitarian, architectural or social contribution to the city during the country’s history.

The tour starts at the Royal citadel and then goes on to the old original house at No. 87 Ma May Street, Bach Ma temple - the eastern defender of the former Thang Long citadel, O Quan Chuong - the eastern gate of the citadel, Voi Phuc temple - the western defender of the citadel and Hanoi’s old quarter.

Vietnam tour, Tran Van Khoa, a native of Cua Dai fishing village in the central city of Hoi An, operates a special Eco-Tour to his hometown, inviting travelers to not only visit ancient streets but also join a fishing trip, try coracle racing and help local residents to collect garbage on the beach.

Vietnam tour to explore fishing village

Khoa, who has a great passion for his fishing village, was an enthusiastic tour guide as a teenager. After graduating from the tourism faculty of Danang University, Khoa came back to the city to establish a travel agency near Ganh wharf.

Tour to Van Long, covering an area of 2,643 hectares in seven communes of Gia Vien district, in the northern province of Ninh Binh, Van Long nature reserve is a wonderful landscape with a rich ecological system.Tour to Van Long

Van Long is the largest swampland nature reserve in the northern delta. In Van Long forest, there are 457 species of plants, eight of which are listed in Vietnam’s Red Book, namely kieng, lat hoa, cot toai boi, sang, bach bo, ma tien hoa tan and tue la rong.

In addition to pilgrimages and adventure tours, discovering culture through culinary festivals can be an interesting experience for travelers. The “My homeland festival”, an annual culinary and culture festival organized by Saigontourist Holding Company, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Binh Quoi Tourism Village, is an opportunity for tourists to learn about the significant features of Vietnamese cuisine.Discovering Vietnamese culture

This is the fourth time the festival has been held, and this year the focus on typical cultural activities and Vietnamese cuisine is stronger than ever. The festival will take place in Van Thanh Tourism Park, featuring traditional Vietnamese markets, folk games and folk music areas and culinary areas from each region.

Vietnam travel companies have launched discount tours with tour costs down by 40-50%. This is the largest discount campaign in many years, which will last until May 2009.Cherry blossom in Da Lat Vietnam

The discount campaign is being offered thanks to Vietnam Airlines’ special promotional program for six domestic air routes from Hanoi for some big travel companies in the North. This program will run from February 20 to May 30.

Vietnam tour fee, the tourism promotion programme has been kicked off, but tours remain unattractive to travellers as tour fee reductions have been minimal.Vietnam tour fee reductions cannot attract travellers

Travel firms have admitted that considerable tour fee reductions have been applied mostly to outbound tours or domestic tours with air travel because airlines have agreed to cooperate with travel firms to lower airfares.

Ho Chi Minh City-based Hoa Binh Travel Firm said that outbound tours have seen the sharpest tour fee reductions. Travellers going to China, for example, now enjoy the fee reduction of $100 per person ($638), while those going to Thailand, the reduction of $30 ($298), and to Malaysia, $40 ($358).

The “Take a kayak tour in Hau River” tour, offered by Victoria Can Tho Hotel, which has been enjoyed for a long time by American and Japanese tourists, is now attracting local tourists at a price US$25 per person.

kayak tour in Hau River

We departed from the wharf of Victoria Can Tho Hotel on Hau River’s banks in doubled-seat kayaks, a boat which originated 8,000 years ago along the Siberian coast line for use by Eskimos.

Anyone who can write in Vietnamese is invited to participate in a writing contest with the theme of travel in Viet Nam.

Vietnam travel writing contest beginsThe contest called Mot Chuyen Di (A Journey) is being co-organised by the The Thao & Van Hoa (Sport&Culture) newspaper and the Swedish Embassy in Vietnam. It is one among several activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Viet Nam-Sweden diplomatic relations in 2009.