Overview

Vietnam Culture is among the best-selling of our Vietnam vacation packages exploring throughout the country in 18 days/17 nights. The tour engages the travellers on an in-depth experience of the Red River Delta and the mountainous areas of northern Vietnam, to the cultural monuments of the Central Region and of the Mekong River Delta in southern Vietnam.

The pace of the tour is easy. The tour activities include culture exploring, sea and river cruising, homestaying, former war site touring. The accommodation of the tour ranges from homestay to 5 star luxurious hotels upon the travellers request.

Some of the meals are included so the travellers are introduced to the fine local cuisine while most meals are not included so the travellers can explore the culinary delights independently. At each region, there’s a local tour guide taking care of the group. For groups of more than 10 travellers, there’s a tour guide travelling with the group throughout Vietnam. Vietnam culture is definitely suitable for families to travel and engage into the authentic Vietnamese culture and daily life.

Day1    Arrive in Ha Noi
Day2    Ha Noi City Tour (B)
Day3    Ha Noi - Thay Pagoda - Tay Phuong Pagoda - Ha Noi (B)
Day4    Ha Noi - Mai Chau (B/L/D)
Day5    Mai Chau – Kenh Ga - Ninh Binh (B/L)
Day6    Ninh Binh - Hai Phong (B/L)
Day7    Hai Phong - Ha Long Bay Junk Cruise (B/L/D)
Day8    Ha Long Bay - Ha Noi/ Overnight Train for Hue (B/L)
Day9    Arrive in Hue/ Hue Citadel Tour
Day10    Hue (B)
Day11    Hue Hoi An (B)
Day12    Hoi An - My Son - Hoi An (B)
Day13    Hoi An (B)
Day14    Hoi An - Da Nang - Sai Gon (VN 325: 1330 1440) (B)
Day15    Sai Gon - Cu Chi - Sai Gon (B)
Day16    Sai Gon - Cai Be - Vinh Long Homestay (B/L/D)
Day17    Vinh Long - Xeo Quyt - Sai Gon (B/L)
Day18    Depart Sai Gon (B)


The tour price includes

• English-speaking guide;
• Transportation + airlines tickets within Vietnam as indicated on the tour program;
• Air-con soft-sleeper train tickets for Ha Noi – Hue,
• Junk cruise on Ha Long Bay;
• Tourist boats for cruise on the Perfume River in Hue, the Mekong River and Xeo Quyt as indicated on the tour program;
• Sampan trip in Thung Nang;
• Accommodation on twin-shared basis and homestay as indicated on the tour program;
• Meals as indicated on the tour program: B= Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner;
• All admission fees during the guided times as indicated on the tour program;

The tour price doesn't include:

• Insurance of any types;
• International airfares and airport taxes;
• Drinks or personal expenses;
• Others not clearly specified in the inclusions;

Itinerary

Day1 Arrive in Ha Noi
Arriving at Ha Noi Airport, you’ll be welcomed by our tour guide and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is free at leisure. Overnight in Ha Noi.

Day2 Ha Noi City Tour (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Today we’ll tour the 1000 year old city of Ha Noi. We’ll visit different highlights of Ha Noi including: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh Museum, the Ngoc Son temple, the Temple of Literature - 1st University of Vietnam.
In the afternoon, we continue our tour to the Tran Quoc Pagoda - Nation founding pagoda, the Quan Thanh temple.  In late afternoon, we'll have 1 hour rickshaw ride around the old quarter and a traditional water puppet show. Overnight in Ha Noi.

Day3 Ha Noi - Thay Pagoda - Tay Phuong Pagoda - Ha Noi (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We travel 30 km( 45 minutes) from Hanoi to Tay Phuong Pagoda which was built in the 17th century, and is very famous for the 18 statues of La Han coated with lacquer paint. After that we visit Thay Pagoda which was first built in 11 century. This one is located at the foot of Thay Mountain and has a neat setting. In here, you'll tour the oldest stage for performing water puppet right in the village lake. Then we travel back to Ha Noi and enjoy free time at leisure. Overnight in Ha Noi.

Day4 Ha Noi - Mai Chau (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Meet our tour guide at your hotel and travel by road 4 hours (150 km) from Hanoi to Mai Chau. On the way we’ll be treated with the stunning mountain and valley views. We’ll stop on the way a few times for taking in the freshness of nature. Upon arrival, we’ll have time for refreshment and lunch.

In the afternoon, we’ll enjoy a walking tour around White Thai villages. Dinner at the family’s home. Overnight with a Thai ethnic minority family in a house on stilts.

Day5 Mai Chau – Kenh Ga - Ninh Binh (B/L)
Have breakfast right at the house on stilts.
Today, we’ll travel through the mountains to the Red River Delta. We’ll travel our way past Hoa Binh Town and head for Kenh Ga. Lunch is at a local restaurant in Van Long. After lunch we’ll have a 2 hour boat tour of the scenic countryside of Kenh Ga. Here the authentic countryside life of the farmers along the river flanked by ranges of rock mountains and rice paddies is revealed. After the boat cruise, we’ll travel further to Ninh Binh Town. Overnight in Ninh Binh.

Day6 Ninh Binh - Hai Phong (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Our morning tour is for the visit to the scenic countryside of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and Thung Nang Valley in Tam Coc Town. At Hoa Lu, we’ll tour the 02 temples dedicated to the 02 royal families of Vietnam back in the 10th century and enjoy a walking tour amid the karst formations to discover the site of the former capital. Then we continue onto Tam Coc for a 2-hour sampan trip amid rice paddies to explore the unreal scenery of karst formations at Thung Nang Valley. Our lunch is at Tam Coc Town.
In the afternoon, we’ll travel our way through the Red River Delta with rich culture to Hai Phong colonial city. Arriving at Hai Phong, we’ll check into our hotel and enjoy free time at leisure. Overnight in Hai Phong.

Day7 Hai Phong - Ha Long Bay Junk Cruise (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We enjoy free time at leisure then check out of our hotel. We’ll travel for 1 hour to Ha Long Bay in time to board our junk at 12:00 noon. Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you'll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we'll stop for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Top white sand beach before anchoring for the night. Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.

Day8 Ha Long Bay - Ha Noi/ Overnight Train for Hue (B/L)
After breakfast, we'll take a little sampan to visit a secret lagoon of Ha Long Bay while the surrounding mountains are just waking up. After that our cruise takes us further into the Bay of Bai Tu Long traveling past the Human Head Island, the Turtle Island, and the Duck Islet... to the studio site where the famous Indochine film was shot.

After the last feast on board for lunch, our junk travels back to the harbor for disembarkation at 12.00 A.M. We rejoin our bus and make our way to Ha Noi. We enjoy free time at leisure until our tour guide comes back and assist you back to the train station for the overnight train for Hue. Overnight on board the train.

Day9 Arrive in Hue/ Hue Citadel Tour
Arriving in Hue, meet our tour guide and travel to the city for refreshment. Then we’ll start the discovery tour of Hue Imperial Citadel. After the tour of Hue Citadel, we’ll check into the hotel and enjoy free time at leisure for the rest of the day. Overnight in Hue.
Note: Today early check-in with breakfast is not included in the tour price.

Day10 Hue (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Enjoy a morning river cruise to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda and Tombs of King Tu Duc, Khai Dinh and Minh Mang. We’ll enjoy free time at leisure after that. Overnight in Hue.

Day11 Hue Hoi An (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Today we continue our tour further south to Da Nang and Hoi An. We’ll enjoy the scenic Hai Van Pass, Marble Mountains and the Non Nuoc Beach. We arrive in Hoi An in late afternoon and enjoy free time at leisure. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day12 Hoi An - My Son - Hoi An (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We check out of our hotel and continue our journey to My Son Cham Ruins. We’ll travel back to the 4-7th centuries A.D to the heyday of the Cham Pa Kingdom.

Our tour goes through the scenic countryside with different villages of which the hosts live a normal life like many others day by day contributing diligently to what we call the culture of Vietnam. We travel back in time to appreciate what human beings have achieved. Let’s spend a moment to cherish the people of Champa Kingdom.

Leaving My Son, we travel back to Hoi An and enjoy free time at leisure. Overnight in Hoi An.

Cham Pa was a kingdom in the central and south central region of Vietnam thriving from around the 2nd century A.D to the 15th century. My Son at the time was the Holy Land of the Cham Pa Kingdom.

Each king who succeeded the thrown built a temple dedicated to the gods of his Kingdom. With time gone by, My Son had become the main religious center of the Cham Pa Kingdom where the Cham prayed, where all important religious ceremonies took place. Dedicated by the royal court and the people of Cham Pa Kingdom, My Son boasted its grandeur and magnificence like no others. Unfortunately wars ravaged the area and left only the ruins of once great structures.
 
Day13 Hoi An (B)
Full day free at leisure.Only accommodation with breakfast at the hotel is provided by Private Vietnam Tours. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day14 Hoi An - Da Nang - Sai Gon (VN 325: 1330 1440) (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
You enjoy free time at leisure until we transfer you to Da Nang Airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals . Arriving at Saigon Airport, you’ll be picked up and escorted to the city. Before getting to the hotel, we’ll have an oriented walking tour of Saigon down town area. The rest of the day is free at leisure. In the evening, we’ll go out for a dinner cruise on the Saigon River. Overnight in Saigon.

Saigon sprawls its length along the Saigon River. With convenient transportation and location, Saigon has always been busy with trade and commerce for hundreds of years since its formation.

Saigon boasts its high rise buildings and luxurious hotels along the riverside. This area is particularly stunning at night when the city full of light can be viewed from a boat cruising on the Saigon River. There are also some rooftop bars and restaurants for you to watch Saigon at night from above.

Saigon is a city on the go, busy days and nights. It’s required no effort to find something to entertain ourselves while in Saigon. There are many pagodas, temples and museums in the city. Those who want to have more active experiences may like to get lost in the busy and exotic markets selling most of things on earth, the numerous bars and sidewalk cafes always full of guests, smoke and music, or just take part in the traffics like nowhere else in the downtown area. If those things are not enough, then there are lots of parks and water parks around the city for you to get relaxed.

Day15 Sai Gon - Cu Chi - Sai Gon (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Travel for 70 km to Cu Chi once famous for the legendary tunnel system which at the height stretched over 250 km. In Cu Chi, you will have to check these tunnels of 3 levels yourself by creeping in the narrow tunnels. We’ll be surprised to find out how people made these tunnels and find out how life of the local people was during the Second Indochina War. After exploring Cu Chi Tunnel, we travel back Sai Gon and enjoy free time at leisure. Lunch and dinner are on our own today. Overnight in Saigon.

Day16 Sai Gon - Cai Be - Vinh Long Homestay (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
In the morning, we drive 136 km( 4 hours) from HoChiMinh city to VinhLong town. Upon arrival, we'll board our boat and start to explore the islands of the Mekong Delta. We'll visit: a temple or a community house, brick-making, pottery factories, a bean-curd making family, a blacksmith, rice-peeling process...and learn about the real local life. Lunch is served in a family on an island. In the afternoon, we cruise to discover more about the local culture, visit a bonsai garden, then anchor at a family for the night. We stay overnight with a local family on one island.

Day17 Vinh Long - Xeo Quyt - Sai Gon (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We’ll have a walking tour around the village; visit a family with century-old traditions and tools for doing farm work, an orchard with seasonal fruits. After that we'll cruise on some Mekong river tributaries to Cai Be floating market. We'll visit families making popcorn and rice paper. Then we continue our tour by road to Xeo Quyt, a former famous VC Base covered by eco cajeput forest. After a boat trip in the eco forest of Xeo Quyt we travel back to Sai Gon. Overnight in Sai Gon.

Day18 Depart Sai Gon (B)
You have free time until we transfer you (without a tour guide) back to the airport for your departure flight. The culture tour of Vietnam for your family comes to an end. We trust you and your family had a nice cultural experience of Vietnam with Private Vietnam Tours.