:> Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Enter Vietnam at Noi Bai airport, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one or two hour cylo tour around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show and a welcome dinner at a restaurant with Vietnamese cuisines. You will spend the night in Hanoi
:> Day 2: Hanoi City Tour (B/L)
You will have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you will call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi and the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.
:> Day 3: Hanoi – Ha Long (B)
After an early breakfast, you will leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board your boat, a wooden junk built from the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure, that will take you first to the busy World Heritage area and then to some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you will be able to swim, fish, climb a hill for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape, or venture into some of the sea level caves in a small sampan. All your meals will be provided on board, usually based on fresh seafood. Your overnight will be aboard.
:> Day 4: Ha Long - Hanoi (B/L)
You will spend the morning cruising Ha Long Bay, followed by lunch just before docking around noon and leaving for Hanoi. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.
:> Day 5: Hanoi Departure (B)
After breakfast at the hotel, you will be free for shopping until your driver arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport for your departure flight.
