DISTINCTIVE VIETNAM

Arrive in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam’s biggest commercial city with both colourful traditional markets and hi-end Shopping Center. Transfer to hotel for check-in ( hotel check-in time is 14:00 ).Have an orientation walking around the city's main shopping boulevards. There are the alluring handicraft , souvernirs , house wares, fashion clothings , accessories boutiques designed by up-and-coming Vietnamese designers . Overnight in Saigon.

Today's tour focuses on the major highlights of bustling Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon the largest economic center of Vietnam.
Leave your hotel for a visit to the History Museum, built in 1929 and home to an excellent collection of artifacts illustrating the evolution of the cultures of Vietnam, from bronze aged Dong Son civilization to Cham, Khmer and modern day Vietnam. Enjoy a short performance of traditional Water puppet show inside.
Afterwards, continue your tour with a pedicab ride from the bontanical garden to the Notre Dame Cathedral built by the French late in the 19th century. On the way, take a photo stop at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Then visit the French-styled central Post Office to see rare ancient maps decorated on the dome inside the building.
Next, take another photo stop at the former Presidential Palace, now renamed Reunification Hall where a Vietnamese liberation tank crashed through on April 30th, 1975, signaling the end of the Vietnam War.
Drive into the heart of Cholon, literally big market and more commonly known as Chinatown, providing you with a glimpse of the busy trading area. There are hundreds of hidden temples, shrines and pagodas.
Visit the Thien Hau Temple, dedicated to the Goddess Protector of Sailors, which dates to the late 18th century. The smell of incense hangs heavy in the air, with huge burning spirals suspended from the ceiling.
Afterwards, continue to visit FITO Museum, Vietnam's first traditional medicine museum where an amazing collection of 3,000 items relevant to the development of traditional Vietnamese medicine displayed. Implements for preparing indigenous herbs and objects commonly found in traditional pharmacies were showcased in the galleries. You can also find here the ancient books and documents on traditional Vietnamese medicine. Then visit a local Lacquerware workshop where skillful Vietnamese artisans are making lacquerware items, from the beginning stage to the finished product. Last stop is at Benthanh Market where you will be free to explore the shops and bargain with local sellers. The rest of the day is lat leisure.

Today is a day for the river exploring in Mekong Delta. Early start to leave bustling Ho Chi Minh for the 2 hour drive to Cai Be. The colorful floating market with local traditional wooden boats , vast emerald rice fields and lush back waterways are the things that make Cai Be such a desired destination. Arrive Cai Be, get on thelocal boats then cruise on the floating market , where you can witness the unique way of advertising : product for sale is hung on a pole in front of boats to attract customers and make it easier for people to see from afar what is on offer. After visiting the floating market continue to a cottage factory where ‘pop-rice’, rice paper and coconut candies are made. Then cruise to Dong Hoa Hiep Island, admiring the scenery and the daily life of the local villagers along the way. Lunch is typical Mekong style serving specialties of the area. After lunch, drive back to Ho Chi Minh city.Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

After breakfast transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for the short flight to the central port city of Danang. On arrival in Danang transfer to Hoi An, stopping en route to visit the interesting Cham Museum (time permitting). Arrive Hoi An ancient town, an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port, is an outstanding material manifestation of the fusion of cultures over time in an international maritime commercial centre. Hoi An also homes the world class beach resorts with white sand and blue crystal water. Walking tour through the narrow winding streets of the Ancient Quarter, visiting Chua Ong Pagoda, the Chinese Assembly Halls, the 200 year old Tam Ky ancestral house, and the 400 years old Japanese Bridge . The rest of the day is at leisure .
Rest of the day at leisure.
Overnight in Hoi An.

Breakfast at hotel then free to explore HoiAn ancient town where you may find many souvernir or artistic items or simply settle o a coffe shop in the river bank to relax. Check-out hotel then leave Hoi An for Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Drive up to the Pass of Ocean Clouds and descend to the photogenic fishing village of Lang Co. Arrive Hue,visit Hue Citadel where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945, the Imperial City, the Forbidden Purple City and the Imperial Museum. Next visit is Thien Mu Pagoda locates on the Perfume River bank . Built in 1601, the 21-meter tower is the centerpiece of the pagoda and represents seven reincarnations of Buddha. At the ground of Pagoda, you find the famous Austin carof a resident monk drove to Saigon in 1963 to protest against the southern regime. The photo of his self immortalization is one of the most well known images of the war.Overnight in Hue.

In the morning, take a cyclo to Old city and visit Tinh Tam Lake where the Emperors used to come to relax. It is full of lotus flowers in summer and there are many local style coffee shops around the lake where university students come to study. Continue to visit Minh Mang Emperor 's Tomb which comprises 40 monuments all on an oval 44-acre lot surrounded by a high wall. The whole arrangement is surrounded with reflective ponds fringed with pine trees. the Minh Mang tomb nonetheless offers a balance of landscaping and architecture that is unmatched among the tombs in Hue.
Then visit Khai Dinh Emperor ’s tom constructed in traditional Vietnamese with European influence making it unique from the other tombs in Hue. From here transfer 30-minutes to Hue Airport for the 1-hour flight to Hanoi. On arrival transfer to your hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

After Breakfast , leave Hanoi for 3hr30mins drive to Halong Bay including a 20-minutes stop on the way. Upon arriving in Halong City, you will take a tender transfer to your junk and set sail through the bay . Welcome drink and Lunch on board. Cruise through the emerald water between the limestone outcrops and long corridors, En route, you have chances to sightsee many beauty spots of the world natural heritage including Fighting Cock islet, Incense Urn islet, Finger island, Toad islet, dog islet, Dragon, Horse Neck, Buffalo Head islet and many other strange shape islands . Enjoy the seafod lunch on board . Continue explore the stunning bay, visit a fishing village and experience a night on the magnificent Ha Long Bay . O/N on cruise.

Early morning, take a Tai Chi class and watch the sunrise over the bay (if you choose to get up early and weather permitted ). Visit a beautiful limestone grotto, and then back to the junk , Brunch while cruising back to the dock. Disembarking at the Cruise Café Lounge then get on your car and drive back to the Hanoi. The rest of the day is at leisure .
As an optional extra,on the way back to Hanoi, visit But Thap pagodas, one of the oldest pagoda in Vietnam.
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Arrive Hanoi in the afternoon, you may the fascinating Ethnology Museum (closed Mondays), a valuable centre for the exhibition and the preservation of cultural heritages of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam with 15,000 artefacts including clothing, jewellery, of agricultural tools, fishing instruments, weapons, household utensils and musical instruments which is both a research centre and a public museum exhibiting the ethnic groups of Vietnam.
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Instead of Ethnology Museum, visit Vietnam Women’s Museum (closed on Mondays). The museum is located near Hoan Kiem Lake and offers wonderful insight into the lives of Vietnamese women. Displays highlight Vietnam’s vast cultural diversity and educate on the significant role Vietnamese women in Vietnamese society. Learn historic and modern-day traditions centered around births, weddings, motherhood, spirituality and more.
The city tour this afternoon can be flexible base on your next day flight. If you have more time, we arrange some sites visit to next day. Overnight in Hanoi.

Breakfast at hotel then visit the Temple of Literature built in1076 and considered as Vietnam's first university. It was established to educate Vietnam's royalty, mandarins and members of the elite. The university operated for 700 years while its gardens and well-preserved architecture offer an interesting view into Vietnam’s history
Next Visit is The One Pillar Pagoda, founded in 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong who had this temple constructed by erecting a pillar in the middle of a lotus pond, and a temple of lotus-shape. Close by is the mausoleum of the great father of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and the former presidents house on stilts where he lived from 1958 to 1969. His former home illustrates the modesty of this Vietnamese revolutionary. (viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from Oct-Nov)
Continue to picturesque West Lake and the sixth century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. From here transfer (or stroll along the lakeside) 700 meters to the nearby Taoist temple of Quan Thanh dedicated to Tran Vu, one of the principal deities in Taoism.
Continue to picturesque West Lake and the sixth century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda. From here transfer (or stroll along the lakeside) 700 meters to the nearby Taoist temple of Quan Thanh dedicated to Tran Vu, one of the principal deities in Taoism.
The rest of the day is at lesisure for shopping until your transfer to Noi Bai Airport for onward flight.