Vietnam to Laos Explorer

Take the morning trip to visit Cu Chi Tunnels – the historic site where Vietnamese soldiers used as a shelter during wartime. This fantastic network stretches over 250 km and is the shelter of Vietnamese soldiers during the wars. The system was served as communication routes, storage facilities, hospitals and living areas for Vietnamese fighters throughout the war. Take your time to descend into the tunnels to discover the wonderful tunnels and the harsh conditions of Vietcong guerrillas. 

In the afternoon, we will come back to the city to visit Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, was built on the sight of the former Norodom palace. The Independence palace is a widely known landmark of Ho Chi Minh City and was designed by the architect Ngo Viet Thu. Continue seeing the beautiful structures from the French Colonial times such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, the historic Central Post Office. Then, we will visit Ben Thanh market – one of the largest market in Ho Chi Minh to see the local life here. Back to the hotel. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Depart from Ho Chi Minh at around 8-8.30am and head straight to Ben Tre, crossing the impressive Rach Mieu Cable-stayed Bridge. Board a small boat to visit typical workplaces including small brick factories, a coconut processing workshop and a local mat-weaving house.

Stop at a quiet village, take a short walk to experience local life and hop on your xe-lôi (a kind of motorized rickshaw) and stop at a riverside restaurant for a lunch with local food.

After lunch, take a short cycling tour to explore the surrounding fields before boarding a sampan for a tranquil trip along the picturesque canals. Come back to the port and return to Saigon. You will be dropped off at the hotel at around 5 pm. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Free on your own to relax, and the driver will pick you up to transfer to Ho Chi Minh airport for a flight to Hue. 

You will be welcomed on arrival by our guide and driver and transferred to the hotel for check-in. The room will be at your disposal from 2 PM. 

Take a short rest for lunch before starting the tour today. We will drive to visit the Royal Citadel – a World Heritage Site should be visited anyone in Hue. After exploring the Citadel, enjoy a bike ride through fascinating local’s home region, large rice field, and tranquil rural areas. You will visit a typical garden house in the region which is built according to the precise rules of geomancy.

Then transfer to Thien Mu pagoda and enjoy the peace here. Wrap your day trip at Dong Ba market to get into the busy life of locals.

Return to the hotel. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Departure by car for Danang via the scenic Hai Van Pass, where we enjoy the spectacular panorama of the central coastline from the summit. Stop at Lang Co stretch your legs on the white sands of this peaceful beach. Upon arrival in Danang, transfer to Cham Museum to view some of the best-preserved statues from this era before heading to Hoi An ancient town. 

In the afternoon, explore the old port town’s narrow cobblestone streets and pay a visit to historic sites including a traditional house, Phuc Kien Pagoda, and the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge. Take the boat on the Thu Bon river to enjoy the peace. Transfer back your hotel. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Our tour guide will pick you up at your hotel and we will cycle through peaceful green paddies to reach the local market (Ba Le market). 

(If you can’t cycle, the alternative options are available without any surcharge: car/ sit behind local motorbike driver).

The tour guide will show you where the ingredients of the cooking courses come from and you will have a chance to capture the hustle and bustle trading lives of local people. After that, we head back to the restaurant where the chef and the cooking course are waiting for you.

Upon arrival, you will have a break with a Vietnamese coffee to cool down and relax. Then, let’s join a fun bamboo basket boat ride through small creeks in water coconut fields and the folk game “bit mat dap noi”

Once you get back, we will start to cook a variety of local dishes following the given menu. Our Chef and Tour Guide will instruct and assist you to cook during the class. Afterward, we enjoy our delicious and mindful dishes together.

After lunch, we will take a lazy boat back to Hoi An Ancient Town. Sit back and enjoy the scenery and local life of fisherman along the riverside. Back to your hotel. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Duration: 7 hours

Menu: (vegetarian menu available upon request)

1. Fresh Spring Rolls

2. Rice pancake

3. Papaya Salad with Shrimp and Pork

4. Braised Chicken with Chili and Lemongrass

Free at your leisure before being transferred to the airport (without tour guide) to take your domestic flight to Hanoi. 

Welcome to Hanoi, you will be collected by our local guide at Hanoi Airport and transfer to hotel for check-in. The room is at your disposal from 14.00 onwards. The balance of the day at your leisure. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel. 

In the morning, check out the hotel after breakfast. You will enjoy a walking tour to one of our most vibrant markets - Hang Be Market, nestled smack in the heart of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, 5 minutes’ walk from Hoan Kiem Lake. The market offers all a market in Vietnam kinds of goods that might be of need by the people of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, be it uncooked meat, cooked meat, fruits, dry food, worshiping items... It will bring you an interesting approach to the life of the people in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

Afterward, we transfer to Tran Quoc Pagoda - the oldest of its kind in Hanoi, dating back to the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De Dynasty (544 - 548). The Buddhist shrine has undergone several changes throughout the years, particularly it's renaming from An Quoc to Tran Quoc (protecting the country) by Emperor Le Huy Tong in the 17th century.

Then we will move to Temple of Literature - famous for being the first university of Vietnam. You will recognize that this is a popular place for Vietnamese students to take commemorative photographs when graduating.

In the afternoon, visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex (closed on Monday & Friday) where the great President Ho Chi Minh rests in peace. We will visit the traditional stilt house and the respected One-Pillar Pagoda, the special pagoda with a particular structure. 

Take a short rest and then you will be transferred to Hanoi Railway station to take your overnight train to Lao Cai.

(There are 04 soft berths in 01 cabin, you will share a cabin with other customers)

The train SP3 will leave Hanoi at 10 pm and arrive in Lao Cai at 6 am (next day)

Upon arrival in Lao Cai, our tour guide and driver will welcome and transfer you to Sapa (around 1 hour by car). You will be transferred to the hotel to leave your luggage here. Kindly note that your room is at your disposal from 2 pm onwards. 

Then we will head to a local restaurant to have breakfast and take a short rest. 

Today is devoted to a beautiful hike through the breathtaking scenery of Sa Pa valley. Start by the road that descends in the wake of the street Cau May (6 km). En route, admire the rice terraces hidden behind the mist of the morning, a truly awe-inspiring sight. 

Follow a small track and cross Muong Hoa River and pass well-tended rice terraces on your way to the Black Hmong village of Lao Chai. Continue through the colorful rice terraces you will reach the village of Ta Van Giay. As you continue your trek along the Muong Hoa River you will cross a small suspension bridge, roughly 2km from the settlement. Here you can discover a fascinating collection of rock carvings. These engravings depict some beautiful images of a man, stilt houses and some beautiful decorative patterns. Lunch will be served in the local house of the village. After lunch, we will continue to walk through a bamboo forest to Giang Ta Chai, a Red Dao ethnic minority village. After taking a rest nearby a waterfall to refresh, you start climbing uphill to a road where the car is ready for your journey back to Sapa. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Approx: 1-hour driving/ 4 hours walking/ 1-hour lunch.

After breakfast, set off on a for a leisure trip. The drive uphill offers most spectacular scenery of Fansipan Mount. Just a kilometer out of the town, rose flower farms and later chayote grows on bamboo frames covered a vast area. We’ll stop at the magnificent Silver Waterfall before continuing the road trip for some kilometers further to Heaven Gate and Tram Ton Pass. At 2047m above sea level, the Heaven Gate & Tram Ton Pass is the highest mountain pass in Vietnam. From here, enjoy walking around for half an hour for beautiful scenery of both two sides of Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The wind blows stronger to force the clouds moving constantly. Amazingly that the weather is very different by the side: in many days It is foggy and cloudy on Sa Pa side and sunny brightly the other side.

Leaving the Heaven Gate for the way back downhill 7 km, then stop to pay a visit to some lush farm in O Quy Ho where different kind of vegetable, flower, fruit trees and even medicinal plants are grown for years which makes this part of Sapa evergreen.

Transfer back to Sapa with remainder of the day free at leisure until we take you to Lao Cai station for night train to Hanoi. Dinner on your own. Overnight on the train.

(There are 04 soft berths in 01 cabin, you will share the cabin with other customers)

Train SP4, leave Lao Cai Station at 9.40PM and arrive Hanoi Station at 5.30AM (next day)

Arrival in Hanoi early in the morning. You will have a day-use hotel to have breakfast and take a rest before leaving for Halong Bay by shuttle bus, arriving around noon. Visiting the bay, you will experience the magic of the wonderful wonder of the world. 

From the harbor, board our boat for a cruise among the numerous limestone karst rising from the emerald water. Make a stop en route to visit a grotto of spectacular stalactites and stalagmites and anchor for a relaxing swim in a hidden cave. Meals will be served on the cruise. Overnight on the cruise.

After breakfast, enjoy your time to swim, sunbathe and relax in the fascinating background of the bay. After lunch on board – around 11.30am, transfer back to Hanoi to check in the hotel. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Free at your leisure before being transferred to the airport (without tour guide) to take your regional flight to Luang Prabang. The room is at your disposal until noon time. 

Once arrival in Luang Prabang, you will be warmly welcomed and transferred to the hotel to check in. The room is at your disposal from 2PM onwards. The balance of the day will be at your leisure, Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.  

For early risers, alms giving ceremony is good chance to learn about local culture. We suggest you enjoy the sunrise at the crossroads in town around 05.00 when you will also see monks in saffron robes from Luang Prabang’s many temples walking in long silent processions searching for offerings left to them by the faithful. 

Then it’s time for sunrise moment on the Phousi Mountain where you also can have a nice panorama of the city.

Visit the morning market, a perfect place to meet the locals, dine on Lao food, and watch the people as they wander. Grab yourself a frosty bevy and a slice of blood sausage and check it out.

Enjoy a short drive to visit Vat Xieng Thong or Temple of the Royal City- one of the most important of Lao monasteries and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art.

Afterward, we head to Kuang Sy Falls a stunning turquoise waterfall. On the way, you will pass through rice fields and beautiful small villages dotted along the country road. Make a stop at some of the villages before relaxing at the waterfall. Take a fresh swim to refresh yourself in many basins.

In the afternoon, we transfer back Luang Prabang and visit the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (closed on Monday) located in a historical building preserved by UNESCO. The exhibition here consists of traditional clothing, religious artifacts and daily working tools of Lao minorities that will help you understand more about their lifestyle and traditions.

Leaving here, one the way back to the hotel, we will stop to visit the H’mong Night Market where you can find a lot of souvenirs in a traditional style of Laos. This is also a paradise for a street food lover, and you can have dinner on your own. Our guide will suggest you a good place to enjoy Laos traditional food or hot pot at a nice restaurant at the river bank. 

Back to the hotel. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Today set off your exploration with a visit to the Royal Palace also known as the National Museum to learn more about the long-lasting history and culture of the region.

Afterwards, pay a visit to Wat Mai, a beautiful temple located nearby Royal Palace and built in the 18th century. It is the largest and most richly decorated of the temples in Luang Prabang.

Afterwards, transfer to the pier and take a long-tailed boat for an upstream cruise. During the cruise, you will be treated a stunning of nature along the river. From the distance you can see limestone cliffs where the hidden Pak Ou Caves are located. The cave is home to thousands of Buddha statues which make the region a revered one. Take your time to explore numerous images hidden in the cave.

Then, make your way back to the city. En-route, stop to visit Ban Xang Hai village to learn more about the making process of the traditional Lao rice whisky. It is a great chance to taste its unique flavor. Move onto Ban Xang Khong village - famous for its wood paper and Lao silk weaving. 

Afterwards, we transfer back to hotel. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

This morning you are free to relax until being transferred to the airport (without guide) for your departure flight. Room is at your disposal until noon time. Meals on your own. END OF SERVICES.