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DAY 1:       HANOI ARRIVAL – HANOI OLD QUARTER LIFE

Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to your hotel.

The transfer distance is approximately 40 minutes.

Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital is described by almost all who go there as “an old-fashioned city”. Old-fashioned in style, it is a city of lakes, parks, trees, villas, mansions, and an area called the Old French Quarter where crumbling houses are crammed into narrow alleyways that are still named after the goods that were traded there – Silk Street, Gold Street, even Fried Fish Street!

Early check in at hotel in Hanoi is surcharged upon request. 

Late afternoon, visit Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple located on an islet in the lake. Hoan Kiem Lake is the center point of Hanoi and home to a rare endangered giant turtle species. Its name “Returned Sword” comes from a legend of a sacred sword being lent to an ancient Vietnamese King by a holy turtle from the lake and later returned to the turtle. Shop or walk at leisure in the Old Quarter of 36 ancient streets.

Meals: N/A

Stay overnight in Hanoi

DAY 2:       HANOI – HA LONG OVERNIGHT ON BOAT BY SHUTTLE BUS

Following breakfast leave Hanoi for a 2.5-hour drive to Ha Long Bay including a 20-minutes stop on the way. Arrive at the jetty in Ha Long City towards noon and proceed with check-in formalities. Be welcomed onboard and have lunch will be served while cruising towards the bay itself. In the afternoon, enjoy some visits and/or activities (depending on each boat’s itinerary) or just spend some time relaxing on board. Towards the end of the day the boat sets anchor for the night among the karst formations. Dinner is served on board.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight on Ha Long cruise

DAY 3:       HA LONG – TRANSFER BACK HANOI

Enjoy the fresh morning in the middle of the bay, the sun rises on Ha Long in the morning and breakfast is served (brunch on some boats) while the vessels cruise slowly through the magnificent rock formations and back towards port. Disembark and transfer back to Hanoi. Arrive in Hanoi late in the afternoon.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch (Or 1 brunch)

Overnight at hotel in Hanoi

DAY 4:       HANOI HALF DAY CITY TOUR – HANOI DEPARTURE

The half-day city tour begins with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Complex and Ba Dinh Square, an important point of pilgrimage for many Vietnamese. The area surrounding the complex is a traffic-free zone filled with botanical gardens, monuments, memorials and pagodas, and includes the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (outside), Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh Museum. Travel back in time to the nearby simple cottage on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked during his humble beginnings as a revolutionary. Walk a few blocks out of the Ho Chi Minch Complex to the 11th century Buddhist One Pillar Pagoda, an elegant construction rising from the center of a square shaped lotus pond on a solitary pillar. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university of Vietnam built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages and outstanding Vietnamese scholars. Following the complex’s visit, head for a walk around at the Old Quarter, famous for its ancient streets representing traditional trades from the past. 

You are free at leisure before being transferred by our guide & driver to Noi Bai International Airport for flight departure

Meal: Breakfast