Vietnam Essence & Gourmet Tour

After breakfast, we’ll drive 1.5 hours to Cu Chi Tunnels. They were initially dug during the French colonial period and then expanded during the Vietnam War (1955-1975), becoming a huge subterranean base that stretches windingly for 250 kilometers (155 miles), almost to the Cambodian border! Upon arrival, read in silent homage in front of the historical monument and get a preliminary introduction to the tunnels from a short film. Aside from the infrastructure like schools, meeting rooms, and hospitals, there are various booby traps in the tunnels. The smart Viet Cong soldiers even used American soaps to mask their own scents and made shoes that could be worn in both directions to avoid being tracked! Follow your guide and crawl through the widened parts to experience the underground life. Since some areas are so narrow and low, and require people to bend over or crawl forward, ladies are recommended to wear trousers rather than skirts. If interested, you can try a rifle at your own expense, on the shooting range near the exit of the tunnel, with an AK-47 bullet costing around VND 65,000 (USD 2.5).

On the way back to downtown, enjoy a sumptuous lunch at Ben Nay Restaurant, which provides authentic dishes, including seafood fried rice and Vietnamese signature spring rolls with minced meat or shrimp and vegetables wrapped in thin rice paper. Besides, Vietnam’s beer consumption ranks third in Asia, with Saigon 333 and Bia Saigon being the most popular brands, which you can try at your own expense.

In the afternoon, we’ll visit the War Remnants Museum, housing precious exhibits related to the First Indochina War (1946-1954) and the Vietnam War.

► Sip Saigon Coffee for a Nice Break

Then, follow your guide to the time-honored Phuc Long Coffee & Tea to taste Vietnam's most renowned Saigon coffee. Moreover, Lucky Tea, oolong milk tea, and peach tea with chewy tapioca balls are also highly praised. Sit by the window, sip the drink while enjoying the street view, and be amazed by the skilled motorcyclists zooming on the roads - Vietnam truly deserves the sobriquet, the “Kingdom of Motorcycles.”

We’ll also visit two iconic French architectural structures built in the late 19th century: the Notre Dame Cathedral, whose red bricks were imported from France, and the Central Post Office, which displays antique maps showing the telecommunication systems of Saigon and its neighboring country. At last, your private guide and the driver will escort you to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel Nikko Saigon (5 stars) or Liberty Central Saigon Riverside Hotel (4 stars) or similar

★ Boat on the Mekong River for a Taste of Local Life

In the morning, bid farewell to the bustling Ho Chi Minh City and start a private Mekong Delta tour! Your guide will escort you on a 2-hour private car ride to Hung Vuong Wharf, where you’ll board a unique long-tail boat to tour the Ben Tre River, a small branch of the Mekong River, far away from the heavily commercialized areas. While sipping a cup of refreshing coconut juice we’ve prepared, immerse yourself in the lush coconut groves and observe the unique flora and fauna, as well as the local people trading goods on the river. To gain insights into authentic local life, your guide will accompany you to view verdant fruit orchards, a coconut candy factory, brick workshops, and a local family’s home. The hospitable villagers will treat you to homemade tea and fresh tropical fruits, and show you how to make sedge mats. After that, take a 20-minute ride on a Xe Loi (three-wheeled motor vehicle) or bicycle to admire the idyllic countryside.

Enjoy lunch at a riverside restaurant, and taste fried elephant ear fish, a distinctive cuisine of the Mekong River. The salt-and-pepper fish is coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, then fried until golden and crispy, leaving even the bones edible. The staff will teach you how to pair it with rice paper, vegetables, and sauces.

After the meal, enjoy a leisurely sampan tour through the narrow waterways before arriving in Ben Tre, where you'll disembark and return to Ho Chi Minh City by private car.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel Nikko Saigon (5 stars) or Liberty Central Saigon Riverside Hotel (4 stars) or similar

Today, your guide and the driver will escort you to the airport for a 1.5-hour flight to Da Nang. Upon arrival, your local guide and the driver will pick you up and escort you to the UNESCO-listed Hoi An Ancient Town.

★ Taste Top Three Hoi An Dishes

Hoi An was once a thriving trading hub where several cultures blended and merged in both architecture and food. Your guide will accompany you to a high-end eatery to savor three must-try dishes. White Rose dumplings are made of thin, transparent rice paper filled with pickled shrimp and veggies, romantically resembling blooming roses; Fried Wontons are crispy dumplings filled with pork and shrimp; and Cao Lau is a beef-based al dente noodle dish, whose thick and short rice noodles are copies of udon noodles in Japan, and the five-spice powder used in the braised pork is the spice imported from China.

After lunch, let’s start a walking tour at Hoi An Ancient Town, which boasts many Chinese and Japanese-style buildings, such as the Chua Ong Pagoda, which is dedicated to a loyal and brave Chinese general; Fujian Assembly Hall, first built for overseas Chinese gatherings but later has been dedicated to the Sea Goddess, Thien Hau or Mazu; Tan Ky Old House, a wealthy merchant's residence passed down through seven generations; Japanese Covered Bridge, an iconic delicate footbridge built by Japanese merchants to connect Chinese communities; and Rehahn Precious Heritage Art Gallery, showcasing the distinct features of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups through their traditional costumes, complemented by vivid portraits.

At last, after returning back to the hotel by our private car, you can stroll around on your own. Hoi An reaches its enchanting peak at night, with colorful lanterns illuminating the entire town and small rowboats floating leisurely on the Thu Bon River.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa (5 stars) or Hadana Boutique Resort Hoi An (4 stars) or similar

Today, we’ll drive to Hue, an ancient capital of Vietnam. En route, stop by the Hai Van Pass, Vietnam’s most scenic coastal road with magnificent views of mountains shrouded in clouds and mist on one side and the stunning sea stretching out on the other. Then, continue driving and arrive in Hue after about 3.5 hours, and check into the hotel.

In the afternoon, follow your guide to admire the Imperial City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the royal city of Vietnam’s last feudal dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, the square royal city inside the moat features a layout of front halls and temples, and rear residences, lavishly embellished with flying eaves and dragon elements. Despite suffering severe damage during the war, it remains the largest existing ancient architectural complex in Vietnam. Afterward, head to the Tomb of Tu Duc, the burial place of the fourth Nguyen emperor, his wife, and his adopted son. The tomb is a perfect blend of mausoleum architecture and garden design, featuring exquisite pavilions, lotus ponds, and ornately decorated temples, and the emperor even used it as a summer palace when he was alive. Finally, your guide and the driver will escort you back to your hotel.

► Recommended Delicacies in Hue (at your own expense)
Hue beef noodle is a signature dish, offering a mouthwatering taste explosion brought by the combination of beef shank, Vietnamese ham, and pig's trotter, along with shrimp paste and spices like lemongrass. You can try it at Maison Trang restaurant. Beef noodle soup and dry noodles are both popular versions, and please be careful of the scalding soup of the former. Summer rolls, pancakes with fatty pork, and lemongrass grilled pork are also highly praised.
Average Cost per Person: VND 100,000-200,000 (USD 4-8)
Address: 26 Vo Thi Sau, Phu Hoi, Hue, Thanh Pho, Hue

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Indochina Palace (5 stars) or White Lotus Hotel Hue (4 stars) or similar

Today, follow your private guide to view the 400-year-old Thien Mu Pagoda, which is highly revered by the locals as it is located on a hill resembling a dragon, a symbol of the emperor in ancient times. We’ve arranged a boat tour for you to reach the pagoda instead of the unremarkable land trip that other travel agencies offer. Accompanied by your guide, embark on a private dragon boat and cruise along the Perfume River, which is dotted with iconic buildings, the historical bridge and lively village life. Take your chance to snap panoramic photos of the pagoda’s iconic 7-story octagonal tower, which houses a Buddha statue on each floor that symbolizes the Buddha’s different reincarnations! On arrival, go ashore and stroll around the garden-like pagoda packed with bonsai plants, statues, and spacious halls, and encounter wandering monks.

Getting out of the pagoda, let’s move on to Dong Ba Market, brimming with everything from daily essentials to fruits and street food, such as the Hue steamed pancake with crispy minced pork, shrimp, and scallions on top, served with sweet vinegar or fish sauce. Afterward, visit the city’s best-preserved royal tomb, the symmetrically designed Tomb of Minh Mang, the final resting place of one of Vietnam’s most illustrious emperors.

At last, the driver will escort you to Hue airport, where you’ll board a 1.5-hour flight to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital and second-largest city. Upon arrival, your local guide and the driver will pick you up and transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: May De Ville Lakeside Hotel (5 stars) or La Siesta Classic Ma May, Hanoi (4 stars) or similar

★ Experience a Hands-on Cooking Class with a Market Visit

At around 9:00, a join-in Hanoi cooking class tour begins! Your foodie guide will wait for you at the hotel and accompany you to a local market, where you can learn about local vegetables and ingredients, and get intriguing insights into local people's lives. Then, under the guidance of professional chefs, learn to cook several dishes based on the season. Here are some examples: the banana blossom salad, a unique appetizer consisting of fresh banana blossoms and vegetables, along with tender marinated pork, rice noodles, and flavorful dipping sauce; the crunchy fried spring rolls and grilled pork with rice noodles, highly praised by Barack Obama; and the egg coffee/ chocolate, made by topping black coffee or chocolate with a thick mixture of egg yolks, condensed milk, and honey. After the class, enjoy the food you made with additional dishes prepared by the chefs and local specialty beer or herbal drinks.

After lunch, your private guide will accompany you to visit Ba Dinh Square, a vital venue for gatherings and festivals. Pay homage to the esteemed founding father of modern Vietnam at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and admire the adjacent Presidential Palace and his Stilt House for a deeper understanding of him. Afterward, drop by One Pillar Pagoda, a delicate Buddhist shrine built on a stone pillar in a lotus pond. We’ll also visit the thousand-year-old Temple of Literature, where the great Chinese thinker Confucius and Vietnamese Confucian sages are enshrined.

After the visit, the guide and the driver will escort you back to your hotel. If you are still energetic, experience the hustle and bustle of Hanoi by yourself at the Old Quarter, which features nearly 40 streets teeming with all kinds of goods. It’s constantly packed, so please be mindful of your belongings.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: May De Ville Lakeside Hotel (5 stars) or La Siesta Classic Ma May, Hanoi (4 stars) or similar

Today, let’s embark on a 2-day and 1-night Ha Long Bay cruise! Renowned globally for its thousands of breathtaking karst limestone islets and caves rising from the water, Ha Long Bay has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. After breakfast, your guide and driver will escort you on a 2.5-hour drive to Ha Long Bay Wharf, along which you can take in revitalizing views of the Red River Delta, where peasants wearing bamboo hats work with water buffaloes in the vast rice fields. Upon arrival, board the cruise ship, and savor a sumptuous lunch onboard. In the afternoon, follow the cruise to explore the wonderland!

★ What Makes Us Different

For an immersive excursion to the geological wonder, we’ve selected two cruises heading to separate off-the-beaten-path bays for you to choose from:

The five-star Indochine Cruise, decorated in a classical Vietnamese style with balcony rooms, will accompany you to explore Lan Ha Bay, where you’ll change to a kayak or sampan to paddle down beneath the archway of the Dark and Bright Cave (Bat Cave). Keep your eyes open for cute monkeys and bats hanging upside down! After the visit, you can swim in the bay and have a traditional Vietnamese fruit and vegetable carving class on the cruise. At dusk, have dinner and enrich your evening by playing cards or the Parcheesi board game, going night squid fishing, or immersing yourself in the tranquil sea views lit by moonlight on your private balcony.

The western-style four-star Signature Royal Cruise will escort you to Bai Tu Long Bay, where you’ll sail around the Vung Vieng floating village by kayak or bamboo boat to get a glimpse of the local community and learn about the pearl cultivation. When the sun sets, return to the cruise and have a traditional Vietnamese cooking class and a hearty dinner. In the evening, unwind with a massage or enjoy card games and other cruise-provided activities.

► Please note: The itineraries above are subject to the cruise companies.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Indochine Cruise (5 stars) or Signature Royal Cruise (4 stars) or similar

Today, be an early bird to practice Tai Chi on the deck, and enjoy a cup of morning tea or coffee and some snacks while enjoying the stunning sunrise over the sea. After refueling, explore nearby islands by kayak or sampan. If you are on the Indochine Cruise, head to the Trung Trang Cave in Cat Ba Island. Savor the surrounding verdant mountain views, stroll the winding passages within the tranquil cave, and be in awe of the stalactites and stalagmites hanging down from the ceiling. If you are on the Signature Royal Cruise, view the Thien Canh Son Cave, which also boasts amazing spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. Moreover, you can take in panoramic views of Lan Ha Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay from the platform outside the cave entrance, and enjoy a leisurely walk on a small beach beneath the cave.

After the enjoyment, return to the cruise ship for a sumptuous brunch as it makes its way back to the wharf, where your guide and the driver will meet you and escort you to Hanoi airport for your departure flight. Have a pleasant trip home! Please book your domestic flight after 16:00 or international flight after 17:00.

Your Vietnam package comes to an end. If you want to stay one more night in Hanoi or continue exploring other attractions in Vietnam, such as the hiking paradise Sapa or the tropical Phu Quoc Island, feel free to contact our travel consultants, and we’ll customize an itinerary for you!

Meal: Brunch