Duration: 14 days
Feature: This new set tour is ideal for the travelers whose time limited wants to have a panorama of the diversity and the majestic beauty of Vietnam.
Itinerary in Brief
Day 1: Arrival Hanoi - Good morning Vietnam
Day 2: Hanoi, city tour - of a 1000 years old Capital, night train to Lao Cai.
Day 3: Arrival in Lao Cai - Sapa, light trek and homestay
Day 4: Trek back to Sapa.
Day 5: Sightseeing around Sapa. Night train back to Hanoi
Day 6: Hanoi – Halong Bay of the World Heritage
Day 7: Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue
Day 8: Hue - City tour of Vietnam last feudal dynasty, boat trip.
Day 9: Hue - Vietnam cyclo, visit market. Transfer to Hoi An
Day 10: Hoi An - Walking tour in the ancient town
Day 11: Hoi An – Da Nang, fly to Sai Gon, City tour
Day 12: Day trip to Tay Ninh and Cu Chi tunnels
Day 13: Sai Gon – Visit the fertile Mekong delta.
Day 14: Departure Sai Gon, Goodbye Vietnam
Itinerary in Detail:
Day 1: Good morning Hanoi
Hanoi VietnamChao Ban! Welcome to Hanoi, we will meet and take you to your hotel, check-in and today is free at your leisure to rest or explore, discovering your own first impressions of Vietnam. Overnight in Hanoi.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, hotel
Day 2: Hanoi city tour, night train to Lao Cai.
Tour to Lao CaiDepart at 8:00 am from your hotel by van. We will begin our day by visiting Uncle Ho, learning about his great life at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presidential Palace, and his residential place. Next stop is the nearby Temple of Literature. The site of Vietnam´s first University, built in twelfth century, to teach the royals the Confucius theory. Here we will also have a chance to see a traditional music performance. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant for a taste of authentic Hanoi Pho (noodle soup). In the afternoon, choose one from the numerous museums or temples around Hanoi (Museum of Ethnology, Women´s Museum, History Museum or Quan Thanh Temple). A late afternoon walk around Hoan Kiem lake and Hanoi´s fascinating Old Quarter for some great fun, shopping, and street side traditional food, maybe to try one “hanoi bia”. This is your chance to be part of typical Hanoian style and its traditional Vietnamese culture. We finish our relaxing but informative day by attending a Water Puppet Show, a favorite experience for all visitors to Vietnam. We can help you get back to your hotel if you wish, but often our guests would just rather spend the evening enjoying a drink with a view of the city. Dinner on your own. 8:00 pm: Transfer from an prearranged meeting spot to the station for your night train to Sapa (Our tour guide will show you a mini hotel which you will have shower and basic breakfast before going on Halong bay- Day 6).
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, lunch, puppet show ticket, 1 local beer, train ticket.
Day 3: Lao Cai - Sapa – trek to Ta Phin village (12 km ~ 4 hours)
trek to Ta Phin villageThe train arrives in Lao Cai at about 6:00 am where your Footprint guide will welcome you. Look for the “Footprint Travel” sign when you exit the train station. Then take a morning drive through the clouds by car / van to Sapa (about 1.5 hours). When you arrive in Sapa you will be taken to a local restaurant for a morning shower & breakfast. Then we will take a short ride from Sapa to our trekking base where we start our trek through terraced rice fields and Hmong villages. Chances to meet and talk with locals working in the fields are plentiful. We will break for a picnic lunch en route then continue trekking to Ta Phin village of the Dao people (4 hours). Your Dao host family will warmly welcome you to their traditional home where we will share in an ethnic style dinner and stay the night.
Inclusion: Transfer, all meals, guide, entrance fee, home stay.
Day 4: More trek and back to Sapa
Trek back to SapaAt the first of gleam of daylight, you will see and hear the sounds of morning village life. You can join them in some of their activities, like feeding the animals, cleaning the house, gardening or preparing breakfast. After breakfast, we will complete our trek on a valley route to the main road (4 hours) linking Lao Cai and Sapa. Alternatively, for this long trek, you can choose a short morning wander around the village for about 1 hour, resulting in more time spent with the host family and other villagers. For both options, you will be supported by our car / van back to Sapa (30 minutes). When we arrive back in Sapa we will check in to the hotel, shower, and break for lunch. At 2:30 pm we will visit the gardens of beautiful Ham Rong mountain & take part in a traditional ethnic music performance put on by the ethnic minority people. Then return at your own leisure with free time to discover the secrets of this colorful town. Overnight at the hotel in Sapa town.
Inclusion: Transfer, breakfast, guide, entrance fee, hotel.
Day 5: A visit Hmong village, then Lao Cai for night train to Hanoi
visit Hmong villageWake up in Sapa town, breakfast at the hotel then enjoy the morning with some of your new friends that you may have met the afternoon before. You have the entire morning and lunch for free time and visiting the lively markets. At 2 pm travel by car/van to visit the Hmong village of Sin Chai to learn more about the Hmong people in an area close to the tourist path but still untouched. You will return to Sapa in late afternoon and finally depart for the Lao Cai train station at 5:30 pm. The train leaves Lao Cai at 8:15 pm and arrives after a pleasant sleep to Hanoi at about 5:00 am.
Inclusion: Transfer, breakfast, guide, entrance fee, train ticket
Day 6: Hanoi – Ha Long, welcome on the boat
Cave, boat on HalongArrival in Hanoi in the early morning at round 5:00 am. Please find your way by foot back to a mini hotel near the Tran Quy Cap station gate to have shower and basic set menu breakfast. Depart, 8:00 am on a shared bus from your hotel to Halong city. After 3.5 hours driving and viewing simple, country side, rice paddy life, we arrive at the at port. At 12.00, the junk crews welcome guests on board at Hon Gai Wharf. Enjoy welcome drinks and check in Deluxe cabin. Lunch with fresh local seafood while cruising into Halong bay. Get to Vong Vieng after 2 hours. Start exploring Vong Vieng fishing village and the hidden lagoons in Bai Tu Long Bay by kayaks or our small rowboats. Back to junk to enjoy relaxing or the sunset. Dinner and overnight on board nearby Vong Vieng village or Trinh Nu cave.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, kayak, boat/junk, lunch, dinner, permit, insurance, fishing gears.
Day 7: Explore the tranquil scenery in Bai Tu Long bay, back to Hanoi - Night train to Hue
tranquil scenery in Bai Tu Long baEarly risers can enjoy the sunrise and the quiet breath-taking beauty of Bay’s landscape. From 7.30 to 10.30, serve on a La-Carte-Menu, you can order any dishes in the menu whenever you want for breakfast and lunch. Around 8.00, start discovering Ba Cua beach where you can enjoy swimming, sunbathing or relaxing. We will also visit one cave on our way back to Halong city. After cave visit, we are back to our junk, arrange our luggage and check out cabin while cruising back. By noon at 12:00, we will be ashore then hit the road back to Hanoi.
18: 00, we pick up from our office or your hotel for night train to Hue. Boarding at 19:00.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, boat/junk, breakfast, lunch, train ticket.
Day 8: Arrival Hue, city tour of Vietnam last feudal dynasty, boat trip
Hue, city tour
Arrival Hue at around 10:00 am. Station pick up then transfer to hotel to take a short rest, have late breakfast before visiting the former Imperial Citadel. Lunch is next at a local restaurant. Then in the afternoon is our visit to the splendid royal tombs, there are actually more than 6 tombs but we will choose to visit two of three tombs as below: Minh Mang, Tu Duc and Khai Dinh. After that we walk/transfer to the boat dock for our cruising on the Perfume River, viewing the city and the tranquil villages on the riverbank. We will walk up to visit the Thien Mu pagoda, a nicely located pagoda, overlooks the Perfume River and the beautiful scenery beyond, where you get to learn more about the Buddhism in Vietnam. Transfer back to your hotel. Check in hotel. Free time to relax, shower and stay overnight at your hotel.
Inclusion: Transfer, on – site guide, entrance fee, breakfast, lunch, local boat trip, hotel.
Day 9: Hue - Vietnam cyclo, visit market. Transfer to Hoi An
Hue cyclo - HoianAfter breakfast at your hotel. 9:00 am. We will go on a relaxing Vietnam cyclo to visit Dong Ba market around 1 hrs then transfer to Hoian. From here it will take us about 4 hours to get to Hoian. There is fabulous sightseeing en route and we may make stops at: Lang Co beach, Hai Van pass, Cham Museum, and the Marble mountains. Then onto Hoian, overnight in here. This is also a very good chance for you to get clothes made with very nice and reasonable price.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, Vietnam cyclo, hotel.
Day 10: Hoian, walking tour in the ancient town
walking tour in the ancient town HoianThe center of Vietnam is home to many of World Heritage Sites and Hoian is one of them. Here in this ancient town of Hoian, 30 km south of Danang, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. 9:00. Hotel pick up then we walk around the town with your tour guide to visit the old charming Hoi An. We will visit the old Tan Ky House, the famous Japanese Covered Bridge, the stylish Phuc Kien Assembly Hall…Drive back to your hotel then free time to relax, go to Cua Dai Beach which is only 4km away from Hoi An. Say overnight at your hotel.
Transfer, on – site guide, entrance fee, hotel.
Inclusion: transfer, guide, homestay, entrances fee, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 11: Hoian – Sai Gon, City tour
Sai Gon, City tourBreakfast at the hotel then transfer to the airport in Da Nang for early morning-flight to Saigon. Transfer down town and check-in at our hotel before our city tour of this bustling Saigon started. Visit the Binh Tay Market in Cho Lon; stopover at Thien Hau, a 150-year-old Chinese Temple; then to a Lacquer wares workshop and the Jade Emperor pagoda. In the afternoon visit the War Remnants Museum, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the historic Central Post Office, we will drop you off at your hotel around 5:30 pm.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, domestic flight ticket, hotel.
Day 12: Tay Ninh and the Cu Chi tunnels
Visit Cu Chi tunnelsDeparting Saigon at 8:00 am from your hotel for a morning excursion to Tay Ninh to the Great Cao Dai Temple (a place to worship a mixture of Buddhism, Confucius, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity). We see the noon mass at the temple (1 hour). Lunch in Tay Ninh. In the afternoon we visit the Cu Chi outdoor museum to learn about the infamous tunnel systems of the Viet Cong. Take this opportunity to get a unique understanding of the guerillas underground fight strategies during the war and crawl through 50 - 100 meters of the 200 km tunnel system. On the way back to Saigon, local rice paper workshops, and views of Vietnam countryside and paddy fields are pleasant sights. We’ll drop you off at your hotel around 5:30 pm.
Inclusion: Transfer, guide, entrance fee, breakfast, hotel.
Day 13: Sai Gon – Visit the fertile Mekong delta.
Visit the fertile Mekong delta.Getting started at 07:30 from your hotel. A head south of Sai Gon to Cai Be. On arrival at 10.00, boarding a boat for a journey through the town’s floating market. See how river life goes on, trading between merchant ships and local farmers. We walk through the village streets and watch locals making manioc chips. Cruise through the secluded canals where we stop at an ancient house of the area to enjoy seasonal fruits / lunch before our boat takes us to the Mighty Mekong (1km wide), cruise to other island for walking, visiting fruit orchards. Cruise through natural waterways to CaiBe where our bus picks us up for return. Back in Saigon around 18.00. tour ends at your hotel.
Inclusion: Transfer, on – site guide, entrance fee, local boat trip, breakfast, hotel
Day 14: Departure Saigon, Goodbye Vietnam
Saigon Vietnam Breakfast at hotel. Depending on your flight you may have sometime for some more shopping. Then we will transfer you to the airport for your flight home. Goodbye and hope to see you again soon!
Inclusion: Transfer, breakfast.
Link book this tour:http://www.footprintsvietnam.com/Tours/Package_travel/Impression-Vietnam-Tour14days.htm
Homepage: http://www.footprintsvietnam.com