VIETNAM FOR FAMILIES (10days)
Summary
W
elcome to a new perspective on Vietnam for the discerning luxury traveler. Beginning in Hanoi, the safeguard of Vietnamese culture and the bedrock of its national sovereignty, you’ll take a private tour through the old quarter—a district that has changed little over the centuries—before capturing a moment of old colonial grandeur as you ride by cyclo past old landmarks from the French era. You’ll have the chance to select among Hanoi’s best landmarks for a closer look, and in the evening enjoy VIP tickets to the traditional water puppet theater or a classical performance at Hanoi’s Opera House. The following morning you’ll take a deluxe private market and culinary tour to experience all the tastes of the capital city for yourself. Greet the next day with a private transfer to Halong Bay, cruising in luxury on vessels shaped like the crimson-sailed junks that have always circumnavigated the towering seamounts there. You’ll be visiting unique villages, great caves in the rock, limestone islets, and kayaking across the turquoise waves. After an awe-inspiring sunrise cruise watching the glow of morning erupt through the mist over the sea, return by private transfer to Hanoi for your domestic flight to Hoi An, one of the greatest trading ports of the 17th century. The old covered bridge installed by the Japanese remains the city’s most iconic attraction.
Explore Hoi An with a personal driver and expert guide, heading for the hidden lanes and alleyways where unique storefronts, historic markets and homesteads recall the glories of days gone by. Visit the Trade Ceramic Museum, Phung Hung Ancient House, and Quan Thang House, stopping by smartly-restored shop-houses, Chinese temples and, finally, a lantern-making factory. You may also visit a local silk tailor or take a scenic boat ride along the river beside the town. Beyond the historic town, your exclusive guide
will lead you in a private tour of the local farming villages before you take a cooking class at Tra Que village, known for its organic and decorative vegetables. From Hoi An, explore the abandoned tower-temple ruins of My Son, sanctuaries of the Cham culture with forebears in the Hindu art of India. The site is designed to represent the home of the deities at the center of the universe. Next, take advantage of the fresh countryside air by cycling through the lush fields and charming villages of the picturesque countryside of rice paddies and forests of water coconut. Drop by old carving and boat-building workshops before enjoying a meal with a rural family and then cruising back to the town by ferry.
Conitue to Saigon , see the old French colonial facades giving way to prisms of soaring skyscrapers and narrow residences packed together like pastel-colored dominos.. Discover the city for yourself with our expert guide; you’ll see the whole story of the city revealed in its landmarks—the old red-brick Gothic cathedral standing opposite the mid-century Reunification Palace, itself just a short stroll from the War Remnants Museum that recounts the nightmare of the war from the Vietnamese perspective. From there, side-step to Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, with its busy markets of exotic medicinal herbs traded alongside bushels of local coffee, cashew nuts, and wicker trays of banh mi baguettes. Your evening will take you a step closer to the local culture on the back of a Vespa scooter, stopping by selected streetside snack stalls. Optional extras can be arranged on request. On your last full day in Vietnam, select from full-day excursions to the Mekong Delta or the Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple.
ITINERARY OVERVIEW
Day 1: Hanoi
Pass through Vietnamese immigration with VIP assistance and be escorted to your private vehicle. Stay at a palatial colonial-era residence.
Day 2: Hanoi
Private tour through the old quarter and cyclo ride past old landmarks from the French era. You may select from Hanoi’s museums and visits to Hanoi’s premiere tourist stops. Evening VIP tickets to the traditional water puppet theater or a classical performance at Hanoi’s colonial Opera House
Day 3: Ha Noi- Halong Bay
Private transfer from Hanoi to to Halong Bay, with luxury cruise on traditionally-styled ships between the seamounts visiting unique villages, caves, and limestone islets with kayaking across the turquoise waves.
Day 4: Halong Bay
Full-day cruising and kayaking
Day 5: Ha Long Bay - Hoi An
After sunrise over the bay, return by private transfer to the airport for your flight to Da Nang and from there to the new hotel.
Day 6: Hoi An
Explore Hoi An with a personal driver and expert guide, visiting the Trade Ceramic Museum, Phung Hung Ancient House, and Quan Thang house.
Day 7: Hoi An
Beyond the historic town, your exclusive guide will lead you in a private tour of the local farming villages and bring you to a cooking class at Tra Que village. Optional extras include a visit to a local silk tailor and a scenic boat ride.
Day 8: Hoi An - Sai Gon
Private transfer to the airport for your flight to Sai Gon. Discover Saigon with our expert guide, seeing the old Gothic cathedral, Reunification Palace, and War Remnants Museum. From there, visit the busy markets and silk stores of Chinatown. In the evening, ride on the back of a Vespa scooter, stopping by selected streetside snack stalls.
Day 9: Sai Gon
Select from full-day excursions to the Mekong Delta or the Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple.
Day 10: Sai Gon Depart
We take you to the airport by private transfer to prepare for your flight home.
Park Hyatt SAIGON
The Nam Hai HOI AN
Sofitel Legend Metropole HA NOI
Paradise Peak HA LONG BAY
Itinerary In Details Day 1 : Ha Noi
Welcome to a new perspective on Vietnam for the discerning luxury traveler. You’ll truly feel in a class of your own once you’ve passed through immigration with VIP assistance and been escorted to your private vehicle. Take a look around you as your private transfer from the airport delivers you to your luxury hotel. This is the thousand-year capital of Hanoi, the safeguard of Vietnamese culture and the bedrock of its national sovereignty, one of its most ancient living towns that still maintains the tranquil atmosphere of its earliest days. It is a microcosm of peace in a location that was once, to Western
observers, the very definition of war. Enjoy its poetic soul while you can—if the pace continues unimpeded, by 2025 this will be the world’s fastest-growing city. You will be staying at a palatial colonial-era residence now known as the Sofitel Legend Metropole—the height of grandeur in the cultural center of the
entire nation. Accommodation in Sofitel Legend Metropole
Day 2 : Ha Noi
You’ll spend the morning getting to know Hanoi intimately with your personal expert guide and driver, who will host a private tour for you to make your own connections with the capital’s thousandfold streets and alleyways. Wander at will through the old quarter, a Hanoian district that has changed little over the centuries, where every street is devoted to a particular trade. Then, capture a moment of old colonial grandeur as you ride by cyclo past old landmarks from the French era, stopping at crafts markets just as the European settlers would have done in an age gone by. You may also select from Hanoi’s museums—visit the Ethnology, Women’s, or Arts Museum according to your preference—and visits to Hanoi’s premiere tourist stops, the Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, House on Stilts and Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Embrace the culture of the region with VIP tickets to an evening performance of the traditional water puppet theater—a fascinat-
ing art form unique to Vietnam—or a classical performance at Hanoi’s colonial-era Opera House. Accommodation in Sofitel Legend Metropole.
Day 3 : Ha Noi - Halong Bay
Greet the day with a private transfer to Halong Bay, an astonishing natural wonder where almost 2000 gigantic pillars of limestone karsts reach heavenwards from the ocean bed. Cruise in luxury on vessels shaped like the crimson-sailed junks that have always circumnavigated these seamounts, visiting unique villages, vast caves in the rock, limestone islets, and kayaking across the turquoise waves. Accommodation on Paradise Peak.
Day 4 : Halong Bay
Full-day cruising and kayaking Accommodation on Paradise Peak.
Day 5 : Ha Long Bay - Hoi An
After an awe-inspiring sunrise cruise on the bay watching the glow of morning erupt through the mist over the sea, return by private transfer to Hanoi for your domestic flight bound for Hoi An, home to a riverside town suspended in a former era. Accommodation in The Nam Hai.
Day 6 : Hoi An
Today you’ll be exploring Hoi An with a personal driver and expert guide, heading for the hidden lanes and alleyways where unique storefronts, historic markets and homesteads recall the glories of days gone by. During your walking tour, you’ll stop by the Trade Ceramic Museum and Phung Hung Ancient House, a masterpiece of fusion architecture that has stood here for over a century. Quan Thang House nearby is two hundred years older still, also replete with Sino-Japanese flourishes. Along the way, make stops at smartly restored shop-houses, Chinese temples and, finally, a lantern-making factory. Accommodation in The Nam Hai.
Day 7 : Hoi An
Beyond the historic town, the region’s rural heartland provides glimpses into the traditional Vietnamese way of life. Your exclusive guide will lead your private half-day tour of the local farming villages, laboring on the land as their ancestors did before them. If the inspiration takes you, you may also request an appointment with a bespoke silk tailor; take an excursion into the countryside by bike to see the old carving and boat-building workshops; enjoy a day at the abandoned Hindu temple ruins of My Son; or take a romantic boat ride into the sunset. Accommodation in The Nam Hai.
Day 8 : Hoi An - Sai Gon
Private transfer to Da Nang airport for your flight to Sai Gon and then again on arrival to your deluxe hotel Take the day to discover the city for yourself with our expert guide, who will lead you to explore Saigon with all your senses.
As the heavy aroma of rich black coffee condenses in gusts of incense smoke from its old temples, you’ll see the whole story of the city revealed in its landmarks—the old red-brick Gothic cathedral standing opposite the mid-century Reunification Palace, itself just a short stroll from the War Remnants Museum that recounts the nightmare of the war from the Vietnamese perspective. From there, side-step to Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, with its busy markets of exotic medicinal herbs traded alongside bushels of local coffee, cashew nuts, and wicker trays of banh mi baguettes. Browse the aisles of vibrant Vietnamese silks and then, if desired, step forward in time at the boutiques of leading Vietnamese designers producing local couture garments based on traditional oriental cultural derivatives. Your evening will take you a step closer to the local culture on the back of a Vespa scooter, which will whisk you through the less-visited districts where the best genuine local cuisine is
found at selected streetside snack stalls. Optional extras can be arranged to allow you to enjoy the scenery, cuisine, or local culture at your leisure. Accommodation in Park Hyatt Saigon.
Day 9 : Sai Gon
On your last full day in Vietnam, you’ll be headed for the most lush, biodiverse region of the country, where you can select from full-day excursions to the Mekong Delta or the Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple. Accommodation in Park Hyatt Saigon.
Day 10 : Sai Gon
On the final day of your journey, we take you to the airport by
private transfer to prepare for your flight home. As your international flight ultimately departs Ho Chi Minh City, you’ll see far below a beautiful chaos of jumbled architecture that has emerged into the modern world from the cultures of the country you have just explored. Vietnam will always be awaiting your return.
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