Vietnam family travel - Northbound

This morning you will take a cyclo tour riding around to sightsee some main highlights of the city including War Remnants Museum (or History Museum), Reunification Palace - formerly known as the Independence Palace which was the Presidential Palace of the South Vietnam before North Vietnamese tanks seized on the morning of April 30 1975, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon Central Post Office and Dong Khoi Street - formerly Rue Catinat – that made famous by Graham Greene in his best-selling book The quiet American.
End our morning tour with a visit to the Ben Thanh Market - the central market with plenty of local products for fun shopping and sightseeing.

This afternoon, we will spend our tiime at the Water park where your family enjoy your time with swimming, water games and many facilities there.
Back to the hotel in late afternoon. Evening is at your leisure.

Summary of inclusions

Cyclo ride & sightseeing

Saigon water park

Private vehicle

Breakfast

Hotel in Saigon - HCMC

After breakfast, leave Saigon for a 2 hour drive through scenic country land to the Mekong Delta with stops to visit a Cao Dai church of Caodaism whose architecture that could have come straight from a Walt Disney fantasy and where all the major faiths of the world blend together in a unique religious cocktail and the Vinh Trang Pagoda, a special Buddhism architecture in Mekong with more than hundred year history.

In the Mekong, we will take boat cruise on a branch of the Mekong River, exploring lively activities along river such as fishing, water transferring etc, visiting to local cottage industries such as coconut candy processing, sleeping mat weaving, salt making, pottery making and so on.
Also, you will have an exciting ride on motor cart (or bicycle) along shady paths, pass by coconut forest, green rice fields and vegetable plains to be able to touch on real life and find out about this fascinating tropical land and take little sampan rowing along meandering canal to explore the local way of life.

Drive back to Ho Chi Minh City and evening is free to enjoy the town at your own pace.
Overnight in hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Summary of inclusions

Private vehicle

Boat cruise Mekong

Mekong Delta sightseeing

Breakfast & lunch

Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

Get transferred to the airport for a short morning flight to Nha Trang.

Known for its long and white sandy beach, consistency of good weather, beautiful emerald water and colorful coral reefs, Nha Trang is one of the most famous and popular beach towns in the country. Nha Trang is also boasted as the best site for snorkeling and scuba diving in Viennam.

Private pick up and short transfer to hotel for check in. Rest of the day is free for your relax with sea, sun and sand.

Overnight in hotel in Nha Trang.

Summary of inclusions

Private vehicle

Internal flight

Beach relax

Breakfast

Hotel in Nha Trang

This morning, after breakfast, you will get transferred to the cable car station for a cable car ride over Nha Trang Bay to Vinpearl Amusement Park. This amusement park located on a beautiful island near the shore, covers an area of 200.000 m² and offering a great variety of outdoor and indoor games, water activities, underwater world and food village.

Outdoor Game: there are thrilling games here like Swing Carousel, Roller Coaster, and Evolution… best to be found in Vietnam

Indoor Game: Located in a man-made mountain, through 3D and 4D movies, it will take you back to the past to explore the human beings’ history and wild nature. You can get yourselves close to and play with gigantic dinosaurs with the help of 4D movies. There are also various interesting games such as bumper cars, crazy bull, children Paradise…, and Kid Garden where your kids can play games, fold pictures…

Transfer back to hotel in the late afternoon. Evening free at your leisure. Overnight in hotel in Nha Trang.

Summary of inclusions

Private vehicle

Cable car ride

Vinpearl amusement park

Breakfast

Hotel in Nha Trang

Enjoy time for sun, sea and sand at your leisure (Check out hotel at 12.00) until getting a private transfer to the airport for a short flight to Da Nang, gateway for Hoi An.
Picked up in Da Nang and transferred to hotel for check in.
Remainder of the day is free to wander around this lovely ancient town at your own pace.

Nested by the bank of the Thu Bon River, Hoi An ancient town once was the largest sea port the Centre Vietnam from 15th to 19th century and was the hub for merchant boats from both East and West. The town is characterized by medieval streets with yellow painted ancient houses, communal halls, temples all are designated as part of the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1999. The exceptionally well preserved architecture, traditions and life style along with benficialbe tourist services making Hoi An today one of the top destinations in the World.

Summary of inclusions

Private airport transfer

Internal flight

Breakfast

Hotel in Hoi An

After breakfast, meet up with your guide and start the exciting tour of Hoi An countryside by bicycle. (We have tandem bicycle for parent to ride with children).
First, you will spend time to visit an orphanage center in Hoi An that is home to hundreds of orphanages, disable and disadvantaged children. There your children will have chance to interact with local children, playing with them, learning something about the project. 
Following, visit a lantern making workshop where children will learn how to make lanterns from bamboo, papers and silk.
From here you will ride your way along the little paths through peaceful villages where you will see buffalos, local working with traditional tools and friendly children waving at you along the way.
Visiting Tra Que organic vegetable village, meeting local farmers and joining into farming activities to learn and to practice the traditional farming ways in preparing the land like hoeing soil, making beds, fertilizing the land with seaweed which is exploited from the nearby river, transplanting and watering vegetable…
After farming experience, visit a farmer’s house and enjoy welcome drink before taking part in preparing and cooking some of the famous local dishes with the instruction of the local chef.
It is then time to enjoy lunch of your own creation and check how wonderful cook you are.

After lunch and a break, we continue to make your way along undulating rice paddies, shrimp farm, duck farms, getting into hidden country paths to the water coconut forest where we will take bamboo basket boats ride along small channels deep into the forest of coconut.
During this activity you will be taught to control round boat, fishing, catching the river snails (and/or crabs), observe local fisherman fishing in the water and experience amazing performance with basket boat dancing and so on…
Afternoon is free at your leisure.

Summary of inclusions

Country cycling

Farming experience

Breakfast & lunch

Hotel in Hoi An

Today you have a free day to relax, enjoying swimming on the beach nearby or taking a walk around Hoi An and exploring the lovely ancient town at your own pace.

As Hoi An is a paradise for shopping lovers, it is the chance for you to indulge yourself with some fantastic shopping of tailor made clothes and souvenirs.
Optional visit to the Hoi An Impression Theme Park or/and Vinpearl Hoi An Safari are available at your request.
Overnight in hotel in Hoi An.

Summary of inclusions

Breakfast

Hotel in Hoi An

Breakfast at the hotel then leave Hoi An on a scenic drive through green lands, pristine beaches, spectacular lagoons and verdant mountains to Hue with stops for a panorama view form the top of Hai Van Pass and beach visit at Lang Co.

This afternoon you will take a cyclo ride to the old quarter to visit the Hue Citadel & Imperial City. Built between 1804 and 1833, the fortress-like citadel encompasses three courts covering the total area of more than 6 square km that surrounded by massive brick walls and protected by a moat system. There were hundreds of buildings that built in a perfect harmony with strict principles of Fengshui, most destroyed by consecutive wars in the mid 20th century. Though underwent through many vicissitudes, the citadel still retains a sense of majesty, reflecting the pomp and circumstances of the last feudal dynasty in the country.

End our day with a visit to the Dong Ba Market that is the central market of Hue with full of local produces, souvenirs and exotic food.
An optional of Royal Banquet style dinner with traditional music, royal dresses and decorative food servings is available at your disposal for this evening.

Summary of inclusions

Private vehicle

Hue cyclo ride

Imperial city sightseeing

Breakfast

Hotel in Hue

This morning you will spend time to visit a traditional village that is famous with traditional handicraft of making paper flowers where your family will get interesting introduction about the village, the job, traditional practice of using paper decoration for home and ceremonial offering as well as learning the way to play with paper, colors and making something by yourself.

Following, enjoy a vegetable and fruit carving class to learn something about art of food decoration in Hue.
With the connection to royalty in the recent past when Hue was the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty for nearly 150 years, Hue cuisine bears a great influence of Royal style in which food decoration is a very prominent aspect and is still carried strong in Hue till date.
Your instructor help you to get familiar with tools, choose the right materials and instruct you how to make from simple objects to something more elaborate depending how skillful you are.
The course is kind of fund activity for children and also to help you all to learn something interesting about Vietnamese cooking and to see how Vietnamese royalty feasted their eyes on the food that was served.

Get transfer to the airport for afternoon flight to Hanoi.
Airport pick-up upon arrival and transferred to the hotel for check in. Evening is free at your leisure.

Summary of inclusions

Handicraft village

Fruit carving class

Private vehicle

Internal flight

Breakfast

Hotel in Hanoi

After breakfast, start your day with a visit to the Memorial Complex dedicated to the Father of modern Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh, including the Mausoleum (view from outside), Presidential palace, the Uncle Ho’s house on stilts and the nearby One Pillar Pagoda that is a little iconic symbol of Hanoi thousand years history.
Following is the Temple of Literature which is the first University of Vietnam dating back from 1076, where remains nearly a hundred of huge stone stele standing on turtle back bearing names of countrymen who received Doctor Laureate through Royal examination through the school’s history of more than seven hundred years. 

In the afternoon you will take a visit to a lacquerware workshop where your family will have the opportunity to learn about one of unique traditional arts of Vietnam.
At the workshop, the local artist will guide you through the steps of creating your own lacquer art and provide all the necessary tools, materials and know how to create your own masterpiece. You can make lacquer painting or item of your own design and bring home as a special souvenir made by yourself. Of course, it is impossible to acknowledge the whole professional skills within a short class but with some advance preparation and instruction of the local artist you will have the overview of the art and way to do it as well as practice some most important techniques.
Later of the day, you enjoy a water puppet show which is a colorful and lively performance of unique traditional folk art in the Red River delta, depicting scenes of rural life and national history.
Evening is at your leisure.

Summary of inclusions

Private vehicle

Hanoi sightseeing

Traditional art practice

Breakfast

Hotel in Hanoi

08.30AM – 09.00AM: Get picked up and transfer on the highway through the land of fertile Red River Delta to Hon Gai pier where we board the boat for cruise on spectacular Halong Bay & Bai Tu Long Bay. 

Said to be one of the most beautiful nature wonders in the World, Halong Bay consists of thousands of limestone islands soaring up from the emerald water of the bay. The different shape of islands here is the result of the work of wind and water through millions of year. With dotted pristine beaches, floating villages, amazing natural caves and fascinating scenes, Halong and its surroundings is the must-see for travelers to Vietnam.

Check in on board upon arrival at noon time.
Have lunch while leisurely cruising to the core of the bay amongst thousands of dramatic lime stone islands.
In the afternoon you will enjoy kayaking through the karsts in Halong Bay and breathtaking nature or swimming on one of the beaches
Enjoy sunset party while our cruise is sailing to the overnight anchorage.

Dinner and overnight on board amongst islands and under star live sky.

Summary of inclusions

Bus transfer

Halong Bay cruise

Halong kayaking

Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Private en-suite cabin on board

Early risers will have chance to catch stunning sunrise over the Bay’s spectacular landscape and take part in a Taichi class on the rooftop ground.   
After breakfast, take a rowing boat tour around to visit to a floating village and natural tunnel, lagoon. Back to the mother boat and cruise to visit another part of the Halong Bay.
Lunch is served on your way cruising back to the harbor.

Disembark the boat at early noon (11.00 – 11.30 depending on boat and tide).
Drive back to Hanoi and remainder of the day is free to wander around for exploring the town, sightseeing and enjoy last minute shopping.

Summary of inclusions

Halong bay cruise

Boat rowing & tunnel explore

Bus transfer

Breakfast & lunch

Hotel in Hanoi

Breakfast is at the hotel.
Today is departure day so no itinerary is planned. Room available until 12.00.
Free time at leisure until getting transferred to the airport for your departure flight home.
Safe travel and see you again!

Summary of inclusions

Breakfast

Private airport transfer