Xin chao! Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam. Hanoi, one of Asia’s most enchanting cities, is full of culture, history and the engaging contradictions of a rapidly developing and deeply traditional society. You are greeted by your guide and driver at Noi Bai International Airport for your transfer to the hotel. The regular check-in time is from 14.00, if you’re arriving early, there is the possibility to book an early check-in with a surcharge.

Enjoy an easy morning to recover from your travels and take the time for a greedy breakfast at the hotel. The guide will pick you up in the lobby at 10.30.
Get ready to see Hanoi as very few others do. This tour is the perfect blend of iconic cultural sites of Hanoi and offbeat districts to sample some genuine local life. You start with the Temple of Literature and a visit of this little gem of architecture and huge piece of history. Next comes lunch, we suggest a walk to a nearby street food shop. There are several options, our favourite would be the Bun Cha flame-grilled pork meat served with sticky rice noodles. In the afternoon, we go meet a water puppet artist in his home. He is the descendant of a family of water puppet performers and devote his life to modernizing the art. This Vietnamese traditional performance art has roots dating back to the 10th century. You will have a chance to exchange with the him, discover the process of making the puppets, and enjoy a private water puppet show. Around 16.00, and after a short car transfer to the South of Hanoi, we veer off the main road and enter a very special district. It suddenly feels like stepping back in time, into the 1960’s when Hanoi was a quaint capital populated mostly by modest workers. Wander around these narrow alleys covered in colourful market stalls, feel the incredible vibe and let the guide tell you the story of these unusual big yellow buildings. We will have a bia hoi there, the famous rice beer of Vietnam, to fully immersed ourselves in the local way. We then drop you off at the hotel for an evening at leisure.

Departure from your hotel at 8am. We exit the city and head West towards Laos border. It takes about 4 hours to reach the valley of Mai Chau. Welcome to the lands of the White Thai.
We drive across the town and journey a bit further to a secluded and scenic sub-valley. Lunch is served at a traditional family ran guesthouse on stilts in a charming little village.
In the afternoon, we go cycling on the backroads of the valley for a first encounter with the Thai culture and its people. The small pathways take us along rice fields and vegetable gardens. We shall meet with farmers on their way to the fields or kids taking the buffalos out. The ride ends directly at the little ecolodge, where we will spend the night. Check-in, refresh and enjoy the end of the day by the swimming pool.

Note: the rice fields in this region of Vietnam are only cultivated between March and the end of October.

We depart from the lodge after breakfast on a short drive (approximately 1 hour) to the heights of Hoa Binh province and the rocky plateau of Hang Kia. The sceneries are changing as we are going up, plum trees and corn fields replace the rice paddies, we enter H’mong ethnic lands, where people are colorfully dressed and living for most of them in wooden ground floor houses.
After a leisure walk around the village, we are welcomed by a local H’mong family for lunch, an opportunity to discover a little more about the H’mong culture through the gastronomy. In the afternoon, take part in a traditional Batik workshop with the women of the village. Learn ancestral techniques and unveil the secrets of the H’mong fabric. We will drive back to the lodge afterwards, enjoy a refreshing dip in the pool before sunset.

In the morning, we leave Mai Chau and journey to the East. After a 3-hour ride including a part on the historical Ho Chi Minh Road, we reach a hidden corner of the Ninh Binh region called Mount Tuong and have lunch there. In the afternoon we start a nice scenic rowed sampan cruise to reach Tam Coc, the most renowned valley of the region for its towering limestone rocks and beautiful rice fields. We transfer to our nearby hotel and grab our bicycles for a 2-wheel exploration of this beautiful stretch of countryside. We will visit en-route the Bich Dong pagoda that offers a climb up on its three levels to admire a breathtaking view of the area once at the top. Evening at leisure.

We gather in the lobby early for our departure to Halong Bay. We drive across the Red River delta and reach the coast a little before noon. We embark on a beautifully crafted wooden junk for an overnight cruise in the legendary seascape of Halong Bay. Once on board, we are served a delicious lunch, while the limestone rocks set the décor. In the afternoon, we reach a less travelled area and will devote ourselves to relaxation, sunbathing, and a visit to a cave. The program is not fixed and depends on the time of the year and weather. We end the day on the sundeck while the sun sets. Enjoy an aperitif or attend a cooking demonstration before dinner. Overnight in a comfortable private cabin with attached bathroom.
Note: Cruise itinerary and schedule are subject to change due to weather, tide levels and operating conditions.

At dawn, an early Tai Chi session is proposed, coffee and tea are served early as well for the early birds wishing to see the beautiful lights of sunrise. Check out the cabin and we then go explore one of the biggest caves in the bay. We return to the boat and a brunch is served as we are cruising back to the dock. Disembark and you are driven back to Hanoi’s airport to take a flight to Hue. You are greeted in Hue by your local crew and transferred to your hotel in the city center. Evening at leisure

In Hue, the term Citadel is often used to describe only the Imperial City, while the Citadel of Hue is so much more. It is actually a city inside the city, with its narrow streets, hidden alleys and larger avenues; with its waterways, squares and secret viewpoints; with its population, its culture and its traditions. This is the true heart of Hue, and reducing it to a few of its monuments only would be nothing but a huge oversight. Today we are going to take a walking tour and explore some bits of the walled city. We will also walk through the Imperial City to get insights of the Emperors’ feudal lifestyle.
We then hop rickshaws for a short and enjoyable ride to the doorsteps of an ancient village where used to live nobles and mandarins of the Emperors. We take a walk across the village and reach a hidden spot where a family cooks some delicious banh of Hue. We sample some of these rice and pork dumplings and will have a chance to learn how to roll them too. After the snack, we will take a taxi back to your hotel.

Take a break from Hue’s imperial past and join with us on an exciting trip to the city’s lagoon and pristine beach. After a short transfer from the hotel to the shores of the Nhu Y river, you will enjoy a fresh sugar cane juice while the guide preps the bikes. Our morning ride takes us on small pathways along narrow canals to the shores of Chuon Lagoon. It continues on small roads across a fishermen village surrounded by wetlands dotted with huts on stilts. Here we’ll jump on a fishing boat and journey onto the lagoon to discover some of locals’ ancestral fishing techniques. Setting wheels on the other side, complete your gentle adventure cycling on a coastal road to a hidden restaurant tucked away behind the dunes on a pristine stretch of beach. Sit back and relax while a delicious light lunch is getting prepared.
Enjoy a dip in the waters if you’d like, before we continue with a road transfer to Hoi An passing the beautiful Lang Co Bay and Hai Van Pass. Instead of arriving directly in Hoi An, we will instead stop before, and hop on a boat for a very nice cruise through some thick nipa palm mangrove and all the way to the ancient town, illuminated by thousands of lanterns. Check-in at the hotel, evening at leisure.

We start our walk across the enchanting ancient town of Hoi An. Follow your guide as you meander your way through the beautiful streets and narrow alleys, which are bordered by ancient yellow-walled houses. We reach a market where you can spend some time exploring the colourful stalls and the variety of foods and souvenirs on offer. Try some local delicacies before we venture further into the town. The guide will show you various places of interest and will also arrange some spontaneous food tastings as we walk. Food, drinks and culinary legends are all on the menu today.

Enjoy a day of leisure on your own. An Bang beach is located just 4 kilometers out of town if you fancy some lazy time on the sand.

You are met in the lobby of your hotel for a short transfer to Danang airport for your departure flight. Rooms are available until noon.