Vietnam and Cambodia Insight 22 Days

Meet your tour guide on arrival at Noi Bai International Airport and transfer to hotel in the city center and check-in. (Hotel rooms may not be ready until 14:00 but an early check-in would be guaranteed with a surcharge.)

Rest of the day is at leisure. Subject to your arrival time, you may want to venture out to explore the city on your own or join one of our wonderful optional excursions in and around Hanoi, such as a walking tour through Hanoi’s Old Quarter for you first impression of Vietnam’s capital city.

Optional: We introduce two one-of-a-kind traditional performances which are found nowhere else than in Vietnam. You can choose one of below options:

- Water Puppet Show where puppets are performed on water stage with folk music, presenting ancient tales, folklore and daily life in Vietnamese countryside.

- Tu Phu (Four Palaces) Show - a very unique show about ritual of spirit practiced in the Vietnamese indigenous religion with music, colors and lively dance performance. The Four Palaces Shows take place on Thursday and Saturday every week.

Meals: NA

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Activities: Welcome to Hanoi - capital city of Vietnam! Pick up at the airport and transfer to hotel in the city center. Rest of the day is at leisure.

Half day Hanoi city tour (by car or by motorbike – upon client’s interest) - Routes can change subject to client’s interest.

Begin the first day of the trip with a tour of Hanoi. Depart from the hotel at 08:30 for a visit to Vietnam’s first university: the Temple of Literature. Founded in 1076, Quoc Tu Giam was established within a temple to educate Vietnam's royalty, mandarins and members of the elite.

Continue with a visit to the iconic One Pillar Pagoda, one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples. Nearby is the mausoleum of the historic father figure of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and his modest house on stilts. (Sites are viewed from outside; closed Mon and Fri and from Oct-Nov)

Wrap up the morning with a visit to the picturesque West Lake and its sixth century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda.Tran Quoc Pagoda is regarded as the most ancient pagoda in Hanoi with its history line of more than 1,500 years.

Have lunch at an authentic Vietnamese Restaurant. Free time at leisure for rest of the day.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Activities: City tour by motorbike (or bus) in the morning. Ride around the city, outside of the Old Quarter and walking tour to learn about the history of the sites including Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature.

Tour by bus is available at customer's request

In the morning, pickup at your hotel and head to Mai Chau by van with a short break along the way.

Mid day, arrive in Mai Chau, enjoy welcome drink. Then enjoy traditional lunch in village (vegetarian available).

In the afternoon, bicycle ride with your tour guide, see farmers working in fields, locals weaving scarves and visit surrounding peaceful villages. Then you will have free time for bicycling, walking, shopping

Late afternoon, return to the accommodation. Enjoy the outdoor BBQ party in the garden and watch the Thai’s traditional dance and drink the traditional liquor “ruou can”. Overnight in the communal stilt house or Valley View Bungalow

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Communal stilt house or Valley View Bungalow in Mai Chau

Activities: Leave Hanoi for Mai Chau town. In the afternoon, follow tour guide ride bicycle around the villages and meet friendly Thai people.

Mai Chau

After breakfast, go with local tour guide to visit more remote rural villages Na Meo and Na Mo villages to understand more about their culture and customs. Mid day, back to the home stay for lunch and check-out. Free time for shopping and relaxing.

15:00 – 15:30 Say goodbye to the family to get on the bus to drive back to Hanoi (3.5 ~ 4 hours drive). Arrive in Hanoi, drop you off at your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Activities: In the morning, follow tour guide walk to remote rural villages Na Meo and Na Mo villages. In the afternoon, transfer back to Hanoi.

Life In The Countryside Of Vietnam

From 07:45 – 08:00 Pick-up at your hotel and depart for Halong city. It takes about 3,5 hours to drive from Hanoi to Halong. On arrival at Halong city, you will board your cruise boat and you are warmly welcomed by professional and friendly crew. Check into cabin.

Enjoy specially prepared lunch while cruising towards thousands of amazing limestone islands emerging from emerald water, passing by Stone Dog islet, floating fishing village, incense burner islet, fighting chicken islet... In the afternoon, enjoy fun time kayaking and swimming.

Enjoy dinner on board then choose your own way to relax after dinner, watching movies, listening to Vietnamese traditional music. Besides, board games, squid fishing available for entertainment during the night time.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Overnight on board in Halong Bay

Activities: Depart for Halong Bay. Embark on a cruise and set sail into the magical bay. Depending on each cruise’s itinerary of the day, you may visit a beautiful cave, swim or relax on beach, kayak... Overnight on cruise.

Wake up by the sounds of the sea. After breakfast, cruise will take tourists to explore the most stunning caves in Halong.

At around boat starts cruising back to the harbor while brunch is served. We continue cruising through the bay, along the way seeing more of the fascinating formations.

Back on shore we will then transfer back to hotel in Ha Noi

Spend leisure time to relax or discover Ha Noi on your own

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Activities: Continue cruising to explore the most stunning caves in Halong and have the brunch on board. Disembark then back to Hanoi. Spend the rest of the day on your own

Transfer to the Noi Bai International Airport to take a flight to Hue. Upon arrival, our driver will wait and transfer you to the hotel in the center of city.

Check-in hotel and free at leisure to relax.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hue

Activities: Transfer to Noi Bai International Airport for flight to Hue.

Located in Central Vietnam, Hue was the former capital of the last Dynasty of Vietnam and has an elegant setting on the banks of the Huong Giang or Perfume River surrounded by lush green hills. Founded as a Royal city in 1687, this small and quiet city is known for the magnificent architecture of its citadels, palaces, royal tombs, pagodas and temples built under the Nguyen dynasty. The city has preserved its cultural heritage including music, the arts and many other traditions and is probably the best place in Vietnam to get a sense of the past and imperial court life.

Tombs and pagodas lie everywhere in and around Hue. Start to explore Hue by a visit to Thien Mu pagoda, then you will visit ONE of the three most beautiful mausoleums around Hue:

• Minh Mang Royal Tomb
• Tu Duc Royal Tomb
• Khai Dinh Royal Tomb

Situated near the eastern corner of the Citadel where the Dong Ba Canal merges with the Perfume River is one of the largest markets in Hue province called the Dong Ba Market where you can see, smell, and taste the freshness of the produce. It is truly amazing.

Optional Activities

• Hue - Imperial citadel - VND150,000

Afternoon: free at leisure

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hue

Activities: Explore Tombs and pagodas lie everywhere in and around Hue. The city has preserved its cultural heritage including music, the arts and many other traditions and is probably the best place in Vietnam to get a sense of the past and imperial court life.

Citadel Complex Of Hue

Nội dung

Pick up at hotel in Hue, then transfer to Hotel in Hoi An for check-in. Land transfer by shuttle bus or Private car with stop at some sightseeing on the way for short break (admission fee not included). Spend leisure time to relax.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Your guide will take you on a stroll through the ancient town. Its friendly inhabitants, narrow streets, old houses, temples and wooden bridge still remain its ancient character.

The best way to discover Hoi An, however, is to simply wander. Little more than a maze of a few streets, there are temples, museums and preserved houses to visit; yet with some 850 buildings heritage-protected, the best feel for the town comes from the places which are free to all. As with everywhere in this country, the ‘real’ Vietnam is to be found in unexpected places, such as a back street or turning down an unexpected alley, or talking in broken English to the old lady who sells Chinese scrolls. In hidden nooks and crannies are art galleries, cafes, gastronomic gems, ceramics for sale, shops filled with lanterns and, of course, the silk for which the town is famed. There are woodworkers and carvers, artists at work, craft shops. Plus there are always cold drinks for sale, important no matter the time of year. In this part of Vietnam, it is either hot and dry, or hot and wet.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Activities: Take part in Hoi An walking tour half day to explore the ancient beauty of houses, streets, temples and wooden bridge that are the special features of Hoi An

Optional: We introduce some ways to explore the beauty of Hoi An. You can choose one of below options:

Option 1: Discover My Son Holly Land Half day: My Son Sanctuary - a collection of Champa ruins nestled amongst the mountains in a geological basin of the Quang Nam province.

Price from $ US50/ person

Option 2: Life as a Farmer in Cam Thanh village: Join the farmers in preparing and fertilizing the land. Get to know the villagers’ daily working routines, like raking the ground, sowing, watering and picking greens and many more gardening activities.

Price from $ US70/ person

Option 3: Hoi An Vespa Tour

Price from $ US80/ person

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Transfer to the Da Nang airport to take a flight to Hanoi. Upon arrival, our driver will wait and transfer you to the hotel in the center of city.

Check-in hotel and free at leisure to relax.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

Activities: Transfer to Da Nang airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh city

Ho Chi Minh City – former name Saigon is Vietnam’s largest city. During 300 years history, under the name of Saigon, it was the capital of French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam.

We visit the following places of interest:

- The Reunification Palace, used to be residence of the President of the Republic of Vietnam. In 30 April 1975, when North Vietnam soldiers set foot inside this building with red flag on hand, the whole world knew that Vietnam war ended.

- War Remnants Museum with many photographs are from both Vietnam and US sources; US military vehicle like tanks, jet, booms are displayed outside.

- Notre Dame Cathedral and Saigon Central Post Office, 02 most famous and oldest of classical French colonial architecture constructions were built more than 100 years ago.

- Local market with a wide selection of goods ranging from shoes to beautiful silk Ao Dais.

Our tour finishes around 12:00 pm, then the car will transport you back to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Ho Chi Minh

Activities: gain an insight into the city’s development through a city tour to the most significant landmarks.

Bui Vien Street

Formerly known as Saigon, todays Ho Chi Minh City is the bustling and vibrating economic centre of the South. Over the past few centuries, Saigon was called the “Pearl of the Far East” and was an important trading centre for Chinese, Japanese and Western merchants who travelled along the Saigon River.

Optional: We introduce some ways to explore the beauty of Ho Chi Minh City. You can choose one of below options:

Option 1: Dinner Cruise on Saigon River: Spend romantic evening time to enjoy a special dinner on boat while the cruise setting sail on the Saigon River. Traditional music and dance performance is a worth-to-wait part of the night making everything even more memorable. Relax yourself among the amazingly beautiful views and scenery of Saigon nightlife.

Price from $ US33/ person

Option 2: Cu Chi Tunnels & Cooking Class Full day: Visit Cu Chi Tunnels - have a unique experience about underground life during the war time. Visit Ho Chi Minh Agricultural Villages, work in the garden like a real farmer, pick organic ingredients from the garden for your cooking class. Hand on cooking class, enjoy great healthy cooking tips and leave with nice certificate, recipes, souvenirs

Price from $ US74/ person

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Ho Chi Minh

Saigon Street Food

A visit to the Mekong Delta is so memorable because of the region’s diversity. Board on a long tail boat and experience the diversity of the Mekong waterways first hand as you explore fish farms and exotic fruit farms.Touring the orchards, paddy fields and swamplands of the Mekong Delta, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve stepped into the pages of a geography textbook. Many visitors spend a day or two in Can Tho, the delta’s biggest settlement, to take advantage of its decent hotels and restaurants and to recharge batteries before venturing out to the floating markets nearby.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Can Tho

Activities: Starting from Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong delta explore tour begins with a short drive south, leaving the city behind and entering the rural landscapes of the Mekong Delta. Passing motorbikes piled high with goods, large water buffalos working in the fields and school children cycling to school, you will be entertained by the endlessly entertaining scenery.

Friendly Local In Mekong Delta

Early wake up with a “should not be missed” floating market in Can Tho. Travel along the Mekong and the natural network of canals by motor boat and sampan under the shadows of water coconut trees. Taste seasonal fruits right from the orchard, meet friendly locals, and visit the region’s lively floating markets.

Afternoon road transfer to Chau Doc and spend one night at this sleepy little town.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Chau Doc

Activities: From early morning, visit the lively floating markets with lots of local and experience their daily activities. Transfer by road to Chau Doc in the afternoon.

Cai Rang Floating Market.

Have breakfast at hotel.Head to the boat station, take speed boat to Phnom Penh. Transfer to your hotel and have a short rest. Then visit significant landmarks of Phnom Penh: Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, Wat Phnom and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel in Phnom Penh

Activities: Speed boat to Phnompenh

Phnompenh city tour in the afternoon

07:45 Transfer to Mekong Bus station for departure to Siem Reap (7 hour drive). Your guide will be not with you on bus but he/she will meet you in Siem Reap. The bus will stop at Arunras Restaurant for restroom and where you can find your own meals or snack before continue to final destination. Upon arrival Siem Reap, meet your guide at Borei Seang Nam station and transfer to check in at hotel for refreshment.

Siem Reap is the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Angkor Archaeological Park which is roughly 7 kilometres away. However, the town itself is worth exploring with day and night markets, Khmer massage and spa treatments, a variety of great cafes and restaurants, and even fish massage!

This afternoon, take a fun by Rermork “Tuk Tuk” ride to visit the Angkor National Museum, learn about “the Legend Revealed” and see how the Khmer Empire has been established during the golden period. Continue to Preah Ang Check - Preah Ang chom, the secret place where local people go praying for good luck or safe journey. Tonight enjoy buffet dinner with Khmer Traditional Dance Show at Amazon or Kulen II restaurant. Relax as you prepare for your much-anticipated visit to Angkor tomorrow.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel in Siem Reap

Activities: Transfer to Siem Reap. In the afternoon, take a fun by Rermork “Tuk Tuk” ride to visit the Angkor National Museum and Preah Ang Check Preah Angkor. Enjoy buffet dinner with Apsara Dance performance.

Morning, visit to jungle Ta Prohm Temple, embraced by the roots of enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers. The temple of Ta Prohm was once used as a location to film the famous Hollywood film Tomb Raider. Begin tour to the antique capital of Angkor Thom, start from 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.

Afternoon, explore Angkor Wat the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Last but not least, view a wonderful sunset from Angkor Wat or somewhere possible.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Siem Reap

This day is free for you to pursue your interests. Perhaps hit the markets for some delicious street food, and indulge in a traditional Khmer massage, or get one final insight into the heart of Cambodia with a cooking class.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Siem Reap

Your trip comes to an end after breakfast, with no further activities planned. If you are spending more time in Siem Reap we can help you to book additional nights accommodation just contact your sales agent. Free until transfer to Siem Reap International airport for boarding home sweet home or next destination.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: NA