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  • Price starts from £ 889,-
  • Days: 20
  • Group size: 2-24
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SVIPrint: Vietnam

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Itinerary
1 Ho Chi Minh City
2 Ho Chi Minh City
3 Night train to Nha Trang
4 Nha Trang
5 Whale Island
6 Whale Island
7 Qui Nhon
8 Hoi An
9 Hoi An
10 Hué
11 Night train to Hanoi
12 Hanoi
13 Night train to Lao Cai
14 Bac Ha
15 Sapa
16 Sapa
17 Sapa
18 Night train to Hanoi
19 Ha Long Bay
20 End of tour

What's included

  • accommodation in hotels including breakfast
  • transportation in AC (mini)buses only for transfers from hotel to hotel
  • 2 lunches and 2 Dinners at Whale Island Resort
  • train journeys as itinerary
  • boat transfers as itinerary
  • Private boat trip Halong Bay with night on board  including meals (1x breakfast, 1x lunch, 1x dinner)  *see below. City tour Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi - excluding entrance fees (if any)
  • Visit Saturday market in Can Cau & Sunday market in Bac Ha
  • Visit Marble Mountains, Cham Museum & China Beach excluding entrance fees
  •  English speaking tour leader for 6 participants and above. When 2-5 participants booked, then tour guide will be stationed locally each time. Halong Bay trip: * 2 - 5 pax: 2 days joint excursion with Phoenix Cruise by Shuttle bus * 6 pax up: Private Anh Duong Junk (boat) with all private transfers  

What's not included

  • international flights
  • optional trekking from Sapa (reservation should be done at time of booking tour)
  • all other meals
  • tips
  • visas
  • optional excursions
  • all entrance fees
  • airport transfers
  • booking fee
  • travel insurance.

Extra Pocket money: £75 - £100 p.w
Single room: £220

Please note

Single room: not available in night train

 

Vietnam

ho ho ho chi minh wasn’t a lot of laughs. but today’s vietnam is!

This simply awesome round-trip crams in all the major attractions of this enchanting country. We’ll travel from the Mekong Delta in the south to the overwhelmingly beautiful Halong Bay in the north. We’ll meet isolated communities in the mountains of Sapa and admire the footprints of ancient civilizations. And we’ll discover a Vietnam that is charming and stylish, a country brimming with history, culture and culinary gems – all just waiting to be discovered!
Vietnam

Excursions

For some trips, it is possible to purchase an excursion package in advance of travel. This allows you to be assured of your participation in the main excursions. If the minimum number of participants in a tour package is not met, you will receive a refund and then you can easily purchase these excursions ‘on the spot’. If this trip offers an excursion package, you can see below which excursions are included in the package. If no package for your trip is displayed below then you have the option of booking the separate excursions on the spot.

Individual excursions
During your trip it is possible to participate in several individual excursions. These will be offered to you by the tour leader and you will book them through him/her. These excursions are optional and you will need to pay for them out of your pocket money. The cost of these trips is taken into account when we give our opinion about the amount of pocket money that should be taken with you.

Prices
To give you an idea of the cost of individual excursions we mention here some reference amounts based on the price level of November 2011. These amounts are subject to change and are only meant to give you an indication. Because the entrance fees often change, they are not included in the tour price (unless explicitly stated).

Package excursions
£ 102

The price of the excursion package is based on the participation of at least 7 participants. Entry fees are exclusive (unless explicitly stated). The excursion package for this trip includes the following excursions:

Hanoi - 1000 year-old Hanoi

Starting at 8am and finishing at 4pm, this is a full days' tour. You will be picked up by your private guide and driver and embark on a city tour of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. In the morning, you will visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is one of the most important and visited sites in Vietnam, a pilgrimage site where “respect” and “reverence” are the key words.
You must dress appropriately (no T-shirts or shorts) and cameras/bags have to be kept in a locker before entering.

You will also visit Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House and the One Pillar Pagoda.

*Please note that the Mausoleum and Museum are closed in October, November and December. In these months, we will visit Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House and the One Pillar Pagoda as well as the History Museum.

After lunch at a local restaurant you will visit the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) and explore the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There is a visit to the Ngoc Son Pagoda as well. Afterwards, you return back to hotel by cyclo.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, cyclotour.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi tunnels & Tay Ninh

This is a full day trip beginning at 830am and ending at 5pm. Your driver will pick you up from the hotel and travel north-west to the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City and into the rural environment of Tay Ninh. We arrive at Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh late morning for a tour of this unusual temple, which is home to the headquarters of the unique Cao Dai sect. The religion is an odd mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism and Christianity.

On the way to the Cu Chi tunnels we’ll stop at a roadside restaurant for lunch break. We arrive at Cu Chi in the mid afternoon. The tunnels are 75 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, an area that played an important role during Vietnam’s wars for independence and unification. The more than 200 km of tunnels built here, by the Communist guerrillas, are often the highlight of any South Vietnam venture. You can explore the bedrooms, meeting rooms, air-raid shelters, smokeless kitchens and experience life underground in this extraordinary tunnel complex. You return to HCMC in the late afternoon.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

Hue - Perfume River

This is a half day excursion, starting at 8am and ending at 1pm. Your guide will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the banks of the Perfume River. Here you will board a traditional perfume river dragon boat to visit some of the tombs of the Nguyen emperors. Along the way visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the most photographed objects in the country. You then continue to the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang.

After this, cross the Perfume River and visit the remarkably different tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh which represents a fusion between traditional Vietnamese and contemporary European. You then stop for lunch before returning to the hotel.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, boat journey.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

Singular excursions

Below is a list of locally offered excursions. The prices are based on the participation of at least 7 participants, and based on a price in U.S. dollars (due to exchange rates the price can sometimes change). Entry fees are exclusive (unless explicitly stated). During holidays (like New Year or Tet) prices can be increased.

£ 38

Hanoi - 1000 year-old Hanoi

Starting at 8am and finishing at 4pm, this is a full days' tour. You will be picked up by your private guide and driver and embark on a city tour of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. In the morning, you will visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is one of the most important and visited sites in Vietnam, a pilgrimage site where “respect” and “reverence” are the key words.
You must dress appropriately (no T-shirts or shorts) and cameras/bags have to be kept in a locker before entering.

You will also visit Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House and the One Pillar Pagoda.

*Please note that the Mausoleum and Museum are closed in October, November and December. In these months, we will visit Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House and the One Pillar Pagoda as well as the History Museum.

After lunch at a local restaurant you will visit the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) and explore the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There is a visit to the Ngoc Son Pagoda as well. Afterwards, you return back to hotel by cyclo.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, cyclotour.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 20

Hanoi - Discover Charming Hanoi & Dinner

Your guide will escort you to the old quarter, where you will come across locals enjoying their drinks and food by the side streets, sitting on small plastic chairs. This is typical Hanoi lifestyle that can’t be missed. You may wish to join locals for a glass of beer ‘Bia Hoi’ which is locally brewed. Following the beer you will be taken through a narrow street and various lanes to a surprising old French colonial villa where a sumptuous Vietnamese- French fusion cuisine will be served at Green Tangerine. After dinner you will be dropped back to your hotel in a Cyclo.

Tour schedule: 5pm - 9pm.

Price Includes: English speaking guide, dinner, cyclo ride
Price does not include: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 41

Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi tunnels & Tay Ninh

This is a full day trip beginning at 830am and ending at 5pm. Your driver will pick you up from the hotel and travel north-west to the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City and into the rural environment of Tay Ninh. We arrive at Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh late morning for a tour of this unusual temple, which is home to the headquarters of the unique Cao Dai sect. The religion is an odd mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism and Christianity.

On the way to the Cu Chi tunnels we’ll stop at a roadside restaurant for lunch break. We arrive at Cu Chi in the mid afternoon. The tunnels are 75 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, an area that played an important role during Vietnam’s wars for independence and unification. The more than 200 km of tunnels built here, by the Communist guerrillas, are often the highlight of any South Vietnam venture. You can explore the bedrooms, meeting rooms, air-raid shelters, smokeless kitchens and experience life underground in this extraordinary tunnel complex. You return to HCMC in the late afternoon.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 16

Ho Chi Minh City - Dinner Cruise on the Saigon River

Make your own way to the Bach Dang Pier on Saigon River, accompanied by the tour leader. Starting at 7pm, this evening enjoy a magnificent and memorable dining and entertainment experience on a most authentic Vietnamese vessel, as you cruise on the Saigon River.

The captain will welcome you on board and introduce you to the specialties, which have made this boat a culinary experience in Ho Chi Minh City.
Enjoy gastronomic cuisine as you travel along this interesting waterway. Listen to soft and classical music and watch the lights of the city pass by from the upper deck of the boat.

Includes: Dinner, English speaking guide.
Excludes: Transfer, Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 43

Ho Chi Minh City - Life in the Mekong Delta

This morning the driver will pick you up from your hotel at 7am, then drive you to the Mekong city of Cai Be. On arrival, you’ll transfer to the boat and cruise the Mekong River to Vinh Long. During the trip you’ll have a chance of witnessing the exotic bustling floating market, sample tropical fruits in a local orchard and visit family-run businesses such as coconut candy, pop-corn and rice-paper manufacturers. Lunch will be served in a local bonsai garden.

We then take the return journey to the wharf by boat, crossing the busy Mekong, where we can view the daily life on the river. Drive back to Saigon (HCMC) in the afternoon. Arrive in Saigon at around 1700. (The boat trip including lunch is 3.5 hours)

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, boat trips as mentioned.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 22

Hoi An - Cooking Class: Tra Que Village

This morning your guide will pick you up at your hotel at 8am and you will then travel by bicycle to a local farm in Tra Que village. On arrival, take a guided tour through the vegetable garden where your guide will explain the local herbs used in Vietnamese cuisine. You can then join the Tra Que farmers in preparing their land, sowing, watering, picking vegetables and many other traditional gardening activities. After being a ‘real local’, you will take a short rest and enjoy a footbath before getting to prepare lunch with a local family.

Your lunch will consist of many local delicacies including ‘tam huu’ spring roll, banhxeo or local pancake of people from the middle region of Vietnam. You can join in the cooking with the chef, whilst he prepares the group lunch. After your morning excursions and your lunch, you will take a traditional Vietnamese post-meal nap before learning how to harvest and wrap vegetables.

At around 1400hrs, bid farewell to your host family before riding back to Hoi An. On the way back we will stop at a Japanese tomb, a remnant of centuries of trade between the two nations.

Includes: Chef, sightseeing fee, bicycle, lunch.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 20

Hoi An - Half day ‘My Son’ Cham Temple tour

At 8 this morning you will be collected and driven to the Cham Temples at the historical My Son site. Walking around the temple structures with your guide, they will explain the historic and cultural significance of these 16th century ruins. As you listen, you will be brought back to the glorious time of the Champa civilization.

On completion of your exploration of the My Son temples, you travel to the Cau Lau boat station, where you will board a motorized river boat to visit the Thanh Ha ceramics village and Kim Bong carpentry village, you'll also have lunch before returning to Hoi An at about 1pm.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, boat
journey.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 34

Hue - Perfume River

This is a half day excursion, starting at 8am and ending at 1pm. Your guide will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the banks of the Perfume River. Here you will board a traditional perfume river dragon boat to visit some of the tombs of the Nguyen emperors. Along the way visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the most photographed objects in the country. You then continue to the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang.

After this, cross the Perfume River and visit the remarkably different tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh which represents a fusion between traditional Vietnamese and contemporary European. You then stop for lunch before returning to the hotel.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, lunch, transfers, boat journey.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 21

Hue - Royal Dinner

Make your own way to the Royal Park restaurant with your tour leader. When you arrive (around 7pm), you will be dressed up like King and Queen in traditional royal clothes and treated to ancient court music as played to the Nguyen’s King while having dinner. All the food served, including dishes symbolizing the dragon, phoenix, or peacock, is prepared meticulously to the finest details. Why not be king for a few hours and enjoy the sumptuous Hue royal cuisine in typical royal style..!

Finish time approx. 9.30pm

Includes: English speaking guide, dinner, traditional royal clothes.
Excludes: Insurance, personal, transfer, expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

£ 52

Sapa - 2 day trek Lao Chai – Ta Van – Giang ta Chai (pre-book)

Day 1: Sapa - Lao Chai - Ta Van
Meals: L D

After breakfast, we will trek down the Muong Hoa valley to Lao Chai village to visit the Black H'Mong, see their house, daily life and unique culture. We have a picnic lunch on the way then keep walking through terraced rice fields to Ta Van village. This evening we overnight at the home-stay. The rest of the day, we are free to explore the village by ourselves. Different possibilities include trekking up the mountains to have a panoramic view of the valley, swimming down in the river, or just helping your guide cook the delicious Vietnamese dinner. Dinner will be special but do not forget to taste some home-made rice wine. Overnight in Ta Van in a local family house.

Day 2: Ta Van - Giang Ta Chai – Sapa
Meals: B L

Get up early in the morning to enjoy the daily life of the ethnic minorities in the village. After breakfast; take the road to Giang Ta Chai village of the Red Dzao minority via the paths between terraces and through bamboo forests. Visit silver waterfalls and the Rattan suspension bridge, and then cross Muong Hoa Stream up to the main road before driving back to Sapa.

Includes: English speaking guide, entrance fees, meals as indicated, home-stay, transfer.
Excludes: Insurance, personal expenses, all drinks, tips, seasonal surcharges (i.e. New Year, Holidays)

If you would like to join this trek then please add it to your booking form at the time of booking your tour.