Day 1: Hanoi Arrival
You will be picked up at Noi Bai Airport upon on your arrival and transferred to your hotel in the city center. You are then free for refreshment.
Overnight at your hotel
Day 2: Hanoi Images (B, L)
Am: Be picked up at your hotel then drive to following sites:
Tran Quoc Pagoda (means “Stabilizing the Nation”), the oldest pagoda constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De.
Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the body lies in a glass case with dim lights in the mausoleum, simple open wooden house on stilts surrounded by gardens with towering trees and a small lake, presidential palace built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina.
One pillar pagoda – a wooden pagoda on a single stone pillar, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purist, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond.
Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), which originally built as a Confucius Temple, then became Vietnam’s first university dating back to 1070. The temple highlights the importance influence that Vietnamese society has placed on education.
Pm: Lunch at a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. Our walking journey starts from a historic temple of the ancient Thang Long Kingdom (Den Bach Ma), it would be a bit noisy and hectic, but the walking route will show you all best thing the Old Quarter has to offer. You will explore a maze of hustle and bustle streets with a hotchpotch of architecture - traditional tube houses, religious buildings,handicrafts shops, colonial houses and modern concrete edifices.
Finally, treat yourself a coffee at traditional house in Hanoi Old Quarter for a panoramic view of the famous Hoan Kiem Lake before walking back to your hotel.
Overnight at your hotel
Day 3: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay (L, D)
Am: Be picked up at your hotel for 3.5 hours bus ride through the country side of the Red River Delta to Ha Long City. Upon arrival, aboard, fresh seafood lunch(vegetable menu available) would be served while the boat is creeping out.
Pm: A short tender ride from your boat in the middle of the bay to an island for the famous Surprising (Sung Sot) Cave, followed by another island visit (Titop Island) and swimming on its sandy beach. As the sun sets over the anchorage area, it is your own time to lean back on our well designed deck with your favorite drink. Dinner will be served with typically local seafood.
Overnight on boat
Day 4: Ha Long – Cat Ba Island (B, L, D)
Am: Morning breath taking in the serene Heritage Site then breakfast before leaving board for an active day on another site of the bay. A local support boat will take us to a sleepy water area of Cat Ba National Park, where you grab the paddle and make your own strokes to discover parts of Lan Ha Bay. It is your time to go exploring labyrinth of limestone cliffs that rise out of the sea, paddle through floating houses and deserted lagoons and wild sandy beaches from our sleek ocean kayaks.
Pm: Lunch on boat, relax and swim from your own private beach. More kayaking to other parts of the bay, by now you are pro kayakers, seeing other amazing limestone karts formations from the water up close and personal, in ways many people can only imagine! When you get tired, leave your kayaks behind to take a transfer boat to Cat Ba Island.
Overnight at Cat Ba
Day 5: Cat Ba Island – Hai Phong – Hanoi (B, L)
Am: After your breakfast, options arise to:
- Relax and do some reading at hotel
- Rent a motorbike (at your expense) from hotel and drive to see the town
- Stick to our original itinerary: be guided to hike Cat Ba National Park (2 hours hiking) after a short bus ride from hotel. Physical reward and magnificent view!
Pm: We (we can help you either extend 1 more night or book an extra night in Hanoi for this day) take a boat ride from Cai Vieng Pier to Hai Phong City, and then 2 more hours drive back to Hanoi. Trip ends at your hotel around 17h00.