Welcome to Vietnam! Upon arrival at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport, you will be greeted by your guide holding a sign with your name on it (after you clear Customs and Immigration). Your guide will be waiting for you in the arrivals hall of the international terminal. From the airport, they will transfer you directly to your hotel. Check into your room, get settled and enjoy your first evening in Vietnam!

Hanoi

Vietnam's capital is rich in a culture touched by French and Chinese influences over its 1,000-year-long history. One can spend days in the Old Quarter, where fashion houses, art galleries and coffee shops make up the city's most charismatic district. Hanoi features hundreds of serene lakes, great for people watching and strolling an afternoon away. Take an evening to dine at a modern, cosmopolitan restaurant and enjoy a night on the town, but don't forget to take an evening to enjoy the thriving street food scene, one of the city's primary attractions.

Ha Long Bay Arrival and Activities

After breakfast, check out of your Hanoi hotel and your shuttle driver will pick you up at 9AM. Begin the 2.5 hour shared shuttle service to Ha Long Bay.

Upon arrival at Tuan Chau Marina, begin check-in procedures at the waiting lounge for Orchid Cruises. At 12:15PM, you'll be transferred by a tender boat to the Orchid Trendy ship. Enjoy a welcome drink on board as you listen to the cruise briefing and safety talk and are shown to your cabins. Enjoy lunch on board while cruising into Ha Long Bay.

This afternoon we will head to Dark Cave and Bright Cave, the ideal spots for you to feel the wonders of Ha Long Bay close-up by bamboo boat or kayak. We then enter a sparsely populated area at Tra Bau in Lan Ha Bay where you can enjoy a nice swim in the green emerald water.

Back on board, enjoy a cooking demonstration and happy hour cocktails while watching the sunset. Then a deluxe dinner is served before a night under the stars.

Ha Long Bay

Seemingly infinite, the towering islands of Ha Long Bay form a landscape that is other worldly. Named a World Heritage site in 1994, Ha Long Bay offers some of the most beautiful scenes in all of Asia, whether you are lounging on a beach, exploring the inside of a hidden cave or cruising along the water in your traditional Chinese junk style boat. Located just a few hours outside of Hanoi, you can easily trade in the crowded streets of the city, to sail between the striking karst formations instead. Ha Long Bay means "Bay of the Descending Dragons" and mythology says the islands were created from the jewels and jade dropped from the mouth of dragons sent by the Gods. No wonder it's so magical!

Lan Ha Bay Activities

Make the most of your Ha Long Bay/Lan Ha Bay adventure with an early morning wake up call to witness the bay at its most majestic hour. Just as the unspoiled bay comes to life, it is most irresistible. If you want, you can even join a lovely Tai Chi session on the sundeck. After a light breakfast is served, you will be transferred to a day boat to visit Viet Hai Village. Take a bicycle trip along the village paths and through the rainforest, and enjoy the stunning scenery of rice paddies on your way to the village to relax. Visit an ancient local house made of straw, mud and bamboo, and take advantage of this rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the local people's way of life. After your visit, you'll return to the boat for lunch before continuing your exploration of the bay.

This afternoon you will visit Ba Trai Dao (three peach islets). This peaceful area has beautiful scenery and is the perfect place for more kayaking or relaxing on a sandy beach. In the late afternoon, return to the boat to for happy hour, dinner and free time in the evening. You can also try your luck with squid fishing or watch a movie in the restaurant, we also have chess and cards for you to play.

Lan Ha Bay Activities and Departure

Enjoy your final morning in Ha Long Bay/Lan Ha Bay admiring the gorgeous landscape. After a light breakfast is served, you will have the opportunity to explore the Ao Each area by kayak before returning to the Orchid Trendy Cruise for check out procedures. As you head back to the shore, a delicious brunch will be served on board. Soak up the pristine natural scenery, until you have reached the Tuan Chau Marina.

You will disembark the cruise around 11:30 AM and transfer by private driver to Tam Coc Rice Fields Resort. Enjoy the scenery of the Red River Delta along the way.

Ninh Binh Exploration

Our guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel in the morning and drive to visit the Mua Cave and start the climb up 500 steps up to viewpoint with a stunning panorama of the region’s limestone karst mountains, rice paddies, winding river and villages below. Then, you will visit the Tam Coc grottoes and enjoy the spectacular, peaceful scenery of Tam Coc while gliding along a river among the rice paddies and karst limestone mountains. After the boat ride, you stop off at Thai Vi temple, and then visit the Bich Dong pagoda.

Journey from Ninh Binh to Hanoi

Meet our guide at your hotel after breakfast and head towards Trang An, a scenic area near Ninh Binh, where you will take a cruise up a river that wends its way through karst mountains surrounded by rice fields. Trang An is also dubbed ‘Inland Ha Long Bay’, since much of the topography is a landscape of soaring karst mountains, which some consider to be even more spectacular than Ha Long Bay itself. Lunch will take place in a local restaurant and in the afternoon, you will start a bike ride to Hoa Lu, the former capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries when Vietnam was under the Dinh and Le dynasties. You will explore some of the monuments dedicated to several emperors living during these dynasties.

You will arrive back in Hanoi in the late afternoon in time to enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure. (This service is on a private basis.)

This morning, you'll be picked up at your hotel in Hanoi 3 hours before your flight (so at 7:35AM) and transferred to the airport in good time to board your flight to Bangkok booked by you. We hope you had a lovely visit in Vietnam.

Happy travels onward!