Day No | Time | Day Title | Itinerary | Meal Plan | Night Halt |
1 | 00:00 Hrs | Welcome to Vietnam Ha Noi Arrival | Welcome to your Southern Travels Best of Vietnam & Cambodia Signature Tour. Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport, meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and English speaking guide. The driving distance is approximately 45 minutes.
Your visa should be pre-arranged, or be sure that your visa-on-arrival letter is in your carry-on luggage. Please go to custom desk as your first point of entry into the country and present these documents for visa upon arrival.
Overnight stay at Hanoi. | | Hanoi |
2 | 00:00 Hrs | Hanoi Full Day City Tour | Morning: Visit Ho Chi Minh Complex which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the colonial Presidential Palace, the One Pillar Pagoda. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university of Vietnam built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages and outstanding Vietnamese scholars. Afternoon: continue the tour to one of the following museums of choice namely: the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Vietnamese History, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History or the Museum of Ethnology. Late afternoon, visit Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple located on an islet in the lake. Hoan Kiem Lake is the center point of Hanoi and home to a rare endangered giant turtle species. Its name “Returned Sword” comes from a legend of a sacred sword being lent to an ancient Vietnamese King by a holy turtle from the lake and later returned to the turtle. Shop or walk at leisure in the Old Quarter of 36 ancient streets.
Overnight stay at Hanoi.
| | Hanoi |
3 | 00:00 Hrs | Hanoi – Halong Bay Overnight Cruise | Morning pickup at 8:00 AM from your hotel for transfer to Ha Long Bay, which is about 160 km or 3.5-hour drive away. The transfer is approximately 3 hours. You will see some rural areas of the Red River Delta with plenty of chances to take photos of Vietnamese farmers working in paddy fields and you may stop on the way to admire the local scenery.
Arrive in Ha Long City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk right after the welcome drink is served. Start cruising while having lunch on board and enjoy the mighty bay view.Ha Long Bay meaning Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese as legend has it that it was where a holly dragon landed down from sky. The bay, famous as one of the world’s wonders and heritage sites whose formation dates back 500 million years, consists of around 2,000 karst islands and islets scattered over an area of 1,553 km2.
After lunch, take a short trek to a nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay dotted with golden sails, go swimming on a quiet beach or sunbath on the sundeck. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with an opportunity to interact with local people who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. An optional kayaking trip is available weather permitting. Back onboard enjoy a lavish dinner and enjoy the bay view at sunset. Spend a night on board.
Overnight on Cruise In Halong.
| | Cruise In Halong |
4 | 00:00 Hrs | Halong – Ha Noi – Da Nang – Hoi An | In the morning, refresh your body and mind with a Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck at the break of dawn. Have tea and coffee onboard and continue exploring Ha Long Bay sailing across its 2000 islets and visiting some of its major highlights. Normally, check out at 09:30, have a buffet brunch while cruising back to shore. Disembark at 11:00 AM to transfer to Hanoi airport for flight to Da Nang. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Arrival Da Nang airport, you are transferred to Hoi An ancient town by private car & guide. Then, transfer to Hoi An hotel for check in. The transfer from Da Nang to Hoi An is approximately 40 minutes.
Overnight in Hoi An.
| | Hoi An |
5 | 00:00 Hrs | Full Day Bana Hill with Golden Bridge | Morning, departure to Ba Na Hills, pass the sea-shore on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, one of the most beautiful roads of Da Nang City and Red Beach, where the French first landed in Da Nang.
Arrive at the Cable car station at the foot of Ba Na Mountain. Enjoy the first leg Cable car, which achieves two Guinness World records in 2009, longest non-stop cable car (5,042m) and highest non-stop cable car (1,292m). Sitting in the cabin, in mid air, looking upon the endless tree line of the forests, bring you with spectacular views of the lush jungle and fairly waterfalls along the way. Experience pristine ecological systems of the Ba Na Mountains will leave you the sense of unforeseeable discovery.
First, step on Golden Bridge which stands 1,400m above sea level in the Ba Na hills, extends over the treetops from the edget of a leafy cliff face offering tourists uninterrupted views of the majestic landscape beneath. The gold-colored walkway is lined with purple Lobelia Chrysanthemums and extends for almost 150 metres, curving around in an elegant design. But it is the sculpted hands that give it the true wow factor. It looks like giant hands of Gods pulling a strip of gold out of the land. The Golden Bridge is the latest tourist attraction in Da Nang and has attracted hordes of guests since it opened.
Visit the Le Jardin, old wineries, remains of French Villas and Ling Ung Pagoda with 27m high Buddha status. We then leave the Le Jardin for the second cable car station to visit the top of mountain and see the remain of old villas. Conquer the Peak of Chua Mountain at the height of 1,487m. View the whole Da Nang city under the cluster of white clouds. Leave Peak of Chua Mountain, visit the trail of Dreaming Stream, Rainbow Waterfall, Suspension Bridge, Golden Valley, and ruined Opera House. Lunch at local restaurant. Play with wild monkeys and take photos, freely then we return to Cable car station at foot of Ba Na Mountain then transfer to Hoi An.
Overnight in Hoi An.
| | Hoi An. |
6 | 00:00 Hrs | Hoi An Half Day City Tour – Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh | In the morning, you will meet your private guide at your hotel who will take you to visit the town. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles and traditions. The town exemplifies a fascinating fusion of cultures between Vietnam and the outside world including China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. Your sightseeing will include the iconic 400-year-old Covered Bridge with a small temple attached to one side as a prominent example of Japanese architecture, the Museum of Trade Ceramics which is an elegant Vietnamese style wooden house built in 1858 showcasing antique ceramic artifacts, the 200-year-old Tan Ky House typifying an ancient Chinese merchant residence, the Ong Temple built in 1653 by Chinese settlers to worship Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general whose character stands for loyalty, bravery and justice and the local market vibrant with colors and activities.
Then, transfer to Da Nang airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Flight time is approximately 1.5 hours.
Meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and guide. The transfer distance is approximately 30 minutes
| | Ho Chi Minh |
7 | 00:00 Hrs | Ho Chi Minh | Today, you will be picked up and travel past miles of flat rice fields, along a bustling road to the Mekong Delta, the world’s largest delta and Vietnam's largest rice bowl.
On arrival in My Tho City, board a motorboat and navigate through intricate canals while observing the local daily life up close as well as the landscape of waterways and lush islands. Land on Thoi Son Island where you can listen to Southern traditional music performed by native artists. Next, you will change to a paddle boat to cruise through the narrow canals and visit households with traditional occupations of home-based coconut candy and rice-wine making. Continue travel by motorized boat to another island to visit a bee farm and taste tea with fresh honey from the beehives and enjoy fresh fruits. On the return to My Tho, stop to visit the Vinh Trang Pagoda, a prominent local Buddhist structure built in 1850 with a unique architectural mixture of Vietnamese, Roman, Chinese and Cambodian styles characterized by a highly ornate façade. At the end of the tour, you will find the way back to Ho Chi Minh.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh.
| | Ho Chi Minh |
8 | 00:00 Hrs | Ho Chi Minh City Tour– Siem Reap | Morning, tour in the city starting with the War Remnants Museum which features a comprehensive collection of the machinery, weapons, photos, and documentation of Vietnam War with the both the French and Americans. Then visit outside of Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (renovating until 2023),, Sai Gon Post Office, a fine colonial building which was designed and built in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel. Move on to Cho Lon or the city’s China Town where you will visit the Jade Emperor Temple (Phuoc Hai), a rare Taoist structure in Vietnam built in 1909 in dedication to the Lord of Heaven. It’s filled with smoky incense and fantastic carved figurines and still buzzing with worshipers, many lounging in the front gardens.
Afternoon, you’re transferred with a private vehicle and guide to airport for flight to Siem Reap. Flight time is approximately 1 hour. On arrival at Siem Reap international airport, please go to custom desk as your first point of entry to get visa-on-arrival into the country and pay stamping fees directly by cash to custom office there. Welcomed by our guide and transferred to your hotel for check in and has a rest. The driving distance is approximately 30 minutes.
Overnight in Siem Reap.
| | Siem Reap |
9 | 00:00 Hrs | Siem Reap –Angkor Thom – Angkor Wat | Today, visit to the antique capital of Angkor Thom, built in the 12th century: the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Bayon Temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara, the Phimeanakas, the Royal Enclosure, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King.
After a short your rest, you will visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. Return to your hotel and end of the tour.
Overnight in Siem Reap.
| | Siem Reap |
10 | 00:00 Hrs | Departure Day | Breakfast, Today you will be transferred to Airport for your flight back home. We trust that you enjoyed your Vacation. Please do give us your valuable suggestions on feedback@southerntravels.in. | | Tour Concludes here... |