Mixing Vietnam Nature & Culture Tour

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning you will have a private tour to explore Ho Chi Minh City, the country's commercial center and home to a growing number of upscale restaurants and shops. You will visit Chinatown, the Thien Hau Pagoda, the Reunification Palace, the Opera House, and the Hotel de Ville. If desired, you can also visit the Moving War Remnants Museum. 

In the afternoon, you will be driven (4.5 hours drive) to Mr Human Farmstay in Can Tho. Overnight there.

Noted: this homestay near "Plum Garden Ruins" - Khu di tich vuon man. You can borrow a bicycle and bike there (ask Mr.Human or his family to get directions, it's very near just about 650m) - You can visit this "Plum Garden" the next morning after finishing the floating market tour.

Accommodation: Hotel in Can Tho

Get up early and board a local boat to explore the famous Cai Rang floating market, where dozens of boats laden with fruit, vegetables, and fish from around the Delta engage in trade. Note the long poles with the sample products for sale tied to the top so they can be seen from afar as well as the many small boats that offer boat-to-boat catering. Keep your camera ready, as this bustling wholesale market on the water offers excellent photo opportunities, especially from your boat's perspective. Relax and enjoy the cruise to the Mr. Human farmstay where we will freshen up before departure to Tan Son Nhat airport for an hour's flight to Da Lat. Overnight in Da Lat.

Noted: Da Lat and Mekong Delta Area have very different weather. It'll be a little bit cold at night in Da Lat so make sure that you keep your body warm

Accommodation: Hotel in Dalat 

07h00: Breakfast at hotel. December is flower season in Da Lat. Many flowers are blooming this month so you'll be easy to see flowers blooming around this city

On the morning of this day, you will visit the following places:

Hydrangea Field: Where thousands of hydrangeas bloom and you can take amazing photos. 

Van Thanh Flower Village: This is considered the most beautiful and famous flower village in Dalat. Here, there are not only flowers but also strawberries and exotic imported vegetables.

Cau Dat tea hill: The farm is covered with the green color of the tea hill running from one hillside to another. The tea hill gives visitors a feeling of comfort and peace when standing in the middle of a large blue sky.

14h00: In the afternoon of the first day of the tour program Dalat. In the afternoon you will visit the following places:

Truc Lam Zen Monastery: This is one of the three largest monasteries in our country, you can find moments of serenity in your soul like in a pure, empty place. The special thing is that you can go to the Zen Monastery by cable car system.

Tuyen Lam Lake: Dubbed "Nam Thien De Nhat Lake" because of its wild beauty and heart-stopping charm. 

Evening: In the evening of the first day, you will be free to walk around at night, and explore Da Lat's night market. Coming to the night market, you can enjoy delicious dishes, have fun, and buy souvenirs. (It is not required, you can choose to do it or not, it's up to you)

Accommodation: Hotel in Dalat

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Lien Khuong airport and fly to Danang. Pick-up and transfer to hotel. In the afternoon, you will have free time to relax or do an optional tour. Overnight in Hoi An

Optional tour: Check-in at the hotel. Lunchtime (on your own). Then, our car will pick you up and take you to My Son's UNESCO World Heritage Site. As you admire the temple and tower complex, your guide will offer interesting insights into its history and spiritual context. 

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An 

From the 16th to 18th centuries, Hoi An was a thriving international commercial port for Chinese, Dutch, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Arab traders. These people came primarily to trade in the high-grade silk, which is still produced in the area, as well as ceramics. Today, Hoi An is a quaint riverside town, popular with tourists for its eclectic architecture, tailor shops, and numerous cafes. Some of the buildings in the narrow streets have remained unchanged for more than a century. 

Today, you will do a cooking and walking tour as below:

Cooking Class program:

8:30 am: Walking to Hoi An market. Here you will have the opportunity to interact with the local sellers and learn about the ingredients you will use in the cooking lesson. Make sure your camera is handy.

9h45 am: take the basket boats and start your journey exploring the small channels, go deep into the forest of water coconut, and hear about the history of the water coconut Forest in Vietnam- American wars.

Tourists will be taught rowing, fishing, and catching crabs by the local fisherman, experiencing amazing performances with basketboat dancing…

10:30 am: Learn the traditional ways of preparing and cooking Vietnamese food.

You can learn how to make the rice paper for the special fried spring- rolls. And learn how to make rice milk from the rice graining traditional way. After that, you use the rice starch to make Vietnamese pancakes (Banh Xeo).

Enjoy what you have cooked after the instructions. 

14:00: Return to the hotel.

Menu:

+ Making rice milk
+ Making rice paper
+ Sweet and sour sauce
+ Vietnamese salad
+ Pho (Noodle soup Vetegerian) or Grill fish in banana leaf
+ Steam rice
+ Desert: grill banana with sticky rice and coconut cream
Welcome drink: passion fruit

After finishing the cooking tour in Hoi An. In the afternoon, you can do a walking tour through the narrow winding streets of the ancient quarter, visiting Chua Ong Pagoda, Chinese Assembly Halls, the 200-year-old Tam Ky ancestral house, and the Japanese Bridge. Hoi An is now one of five UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites in Vietnam. And then you will have dinner (on your own) and go to watch "Hoi An Memory Show" from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

Accommodation: Hotel In Hoi An 

This day tour offers a visit to the Imperial City, the Forbidden Purple City, and the Imperial Museum.  This gallery of antiques houses collections of bronze, pottery, chinaware, Phap Lam enamel, court robes, headgear, and the personal belongings of former Vietnamese emperors. The tour package continues with a visit to the Tu Hieu Pagoda and the Dong Ba market. You’ll enjoy lunch with the fine cuisine of Hue at a local restaurant before returning to your hotel for the evening.

Accommodation: Hotel in Hue

At 8:00 a.m., our tour guide and driver will pick you up from the hotel in Hue for an excursion to Quang Binh, approximately 200 kilometers away. On the way, you will have a chance to visit the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), Ben Hai River, and Hien Luong Bridge, important sights that marked violent battles that took place in Quang Tri Province during the American War. After that, you will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Dong Hoi.

In the afternoon, you will take a boat on the Son River to visit Phong Nha ("Wet Cave") and Tien Son ("Dry Cave").  After that, you will drive to homestay. Overnight at homestay

Accommodation: Hotel in Quang Binh

Our car will pick you up at the homestay and transfer you to Thien Duong ("Paradise Cave"). Paradise Cave was discovered by scientists of the British Caving Research Association in 2005 and has a length of 31km, making it the longest dry cave in Asia. With naturally primitive features, Thien Duong Cave looks like a landscape painting, making it very attractive to visitors. You will then go to Dong Hoi airport for a flight to Hanoi, picked up from Hanoi airport with only a driver and no guide. Then transfer to Hanoi, free night. Overnight in Hanoi.

Accommodation: Hotel In Hanoi

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Then you will visit Hanoi on a half-day tour. You will begin the tour by visiting Hanoi's main cultural attractions, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (closed Monday and Friday), his house on stilts, and the One Pillar Pagoda. 

In the afternoon, you will transfer to visit Bat Trang Village, a traditional porcelain and pottery village with a history of seven centuries, which is an interesting attraction. In there, you will experience making pottery by yourself and visiting around and shopping.

Accommodation: Hotel In Hanoi

08:30 – 09:00: Our driver picks you up at your hotel 

12:00: The crew members of Peony Cruise will welcome you at Tuan Chau International Marina Station, lot 16. 

12:30: You will be taken aboard our support vessel and travel from the wharf via the bay to board our luxurious craft, Peony Cruises. Welcome fresh drinks, cold towels, and a special lunch of fresh food and an assortment of appetizing delicacies will be served. You will be enchanted when decadently dining on our junk. Life just doesn't get better than this! We then set sail for Lan Ha Bay - A member of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays.

15:30: We will visit the Dark and Bright Cave - famous for the pristine natural beauty and poetic, attractive seascape of Lan Ha Bay. Here you will take some photos of the romantic, lyrical local see-sights. This is also the best time for tourists to enjoy bamboo boats and swimming - which is an interesting activity to discover the truest beauty of the limestone mountains and the blue sky of LanHa Bay. Afterward, visitors immerse in the emerald green water of LanHa Bay with exciting swimming activities or enjoy the mini pool with a jacuzzi on Peony Cruise.

17:30: Return to Peony Cruise. Enjoy a sunset party on Lan Ha Bay. It is an ideal time for photography enthusiasts to capture the stunning moment of sunset at Lan Ha Bay.

19:30: Enjoy a romantic dinner at the restaurant on Peony Cruise.

21:00-00:00: Enjoy the nightlife of the bay from the top deck. Immerse yourself in music, enjoy a glass of cocktail from the bar, watch famous films, and relax on the cruise. Otherwise, you can fish squid with the sailors or simply relax in the room and watch the bay from the balcony.

Overnight on the cruise.

Accommodation: Cruise

6:30 - 7:30: Breakfast is served at Peony Cruise Cruise restaurant.

8:00: The cruise will arrive Frog Pond area, here you have kayaking and are free to relax in the four-season mini pool on Lan Ha Bay - A silk ribbon made from green mountains, blue seas, and diverse fauna and flora.

9:30: Checking out of the room. 

11:15 - 11:30: Disembark and move back to the port.

11h30 – 11h45: You are at Tuan Chau International Marina Station

You will be driven back to Hanoi by private car.

Note: The itinerary is subject to change without notice, by the weather and other operating conditions. 

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Optional Tour: You will begin in charming Hanoi, Vietnam's artistic and intellectual capital. You will visit Hanoi's main cultural attractions, including the Fine Arts Museum and the Temple of Literature. And then you will visit the "Maison Centre" - a prison when Vietnam was a French colony, where the images of political prisoners at that time were marked. Then you will have dinner on your own and be driven to the station for a night on the train. 

(49 USD for car, sightseeing, guide)

Accommodation: Livitrains

The train will arrive at the Lao Cai train station at approximately 06:00. There will be a vehicle waiting to transfer you to Bac Ha Market. 

The Bac Ha market is one of the largest markets in the northwest region of Vietnam and is only open on Sundays. It is situated about 110km from Sapa or about 2.5 hours away by car, 1.5 hours from Lao Cai Station, and is worth every second of the ride.

The market itself is a gathering place for the many ethnic minority tribes such as the Flower H’Mong, Dzao, Tay, Nung, and Phu La to trade and sell their wares and it is always full of life. It is most well-known for providing handmade goods, many different types of local wines, local food such as Thang Co Ngua ( Horse stew), and for trading animals including horses, dogs, birds, snakes, goats, and especially water buffalo. 

After shopping in the market, you will return to the car to visit a Black H’Mong village near the market. You will spend over a half-hour in the village where you can learn more about the culture and ways of life of the ethnic minority tribes unique to this region.

On the return to Sapa, you will see the border of China from the city of Lao Cai where large amounts of industry and shipping take place. You will visit a small pagoda in Lao Cai where the locals go to pray for their ancestors and families. Arrival in Sapa, free to walk around. Overnight in Sapa

Acommodation: Hotel In Sapa

Breakfast at the hotel. Then transfer to Hotel De La Coupole for a train trip through Muong Hoa Valley. Finish a short train trip, you will take a long cable car tour to go to Fansipan Peak - it is the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula (comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), hence its nickname "the Roof of Indochina". Before reaching the summit of Mt. Fansipan, you’ll arrive at a peaceful garden complex, with stone paths, ancient Azalea trees, and 18 skillfully sculpted bronze statues. These sculptures lead the way to a 20-meter celestial Buddha statue perched on the mountainside - the largest in the country. The gardens and pagodas all around provide a tranquil setting to pause and breathe in the fresh air. The long cable car will stop at 3.143m and you will choose to take ~600 steps to the top of Sapa or stay there and enjoy. Overnight in Sapa.

Accommodation: Hotel In Sapa

In the morning, after a pickup from the hotel, there will be a walking tour of the hill tribe villages of Cat Cat (~3km), home to the Black Hmong minority people. As we walk to the villages nestled in the valley below Sapa, we will meet some of the local people on their way to and from Sapa. Here you will have the opportunity to share cultural experiences with the families that live in the area and then transfer to the location where the car can pick you up and come back to Hanoi (~5.5 hours drive). Back to Hanoi check in the hotel and relax. Overnight in Hanoi.

Accommodation: Hotel In Hanoi

8h15: Arrival in Tam Coc. Biking visit Ancient Viet Village - Co Vien Lau, discover the features of the old houses of the ancient Vietnamese.

9h00: Visit Thai Vi Temple to learn about the architecture and history of the Temple.

9:30: Return to Tam Coc and visit Tam Coc by boat on the Ngo Dong River through three trans-water caves.

11:30: Lunch at a restaurant in Tam Coc

14h00: Move to Bich Dong Pagoda

14h20: Visit Bich Dong Pagoda - Nam Thien De Nhi Dong

16h00: Tourists return to Tam Coc, and end the day tour to Ninh Bình.

Accommodation: Hotel In Hanoi

As today is the last day of your memorable voyage in Vietnam, at Hoan Kiem Lake you can have a Hanoi walking street tour. You can go there and visit Hoan Kiem Lake, O Quan Chuong, and Dong Xuan Market,... all these sites can be visited by walking. Upon your flights, you will be transferred to the airport and fly back to your home. End of our services!  

Accommodation: N/A