Northern Vietnam Adventure

You will be picked up at your hotel by private car with an English speaking guide and taken to visit the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh and his former residence, One pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature. After lunch, continue your city tour to one of Hanoi's many museums featuring Fine Art, History, Revolutionary, War, Ethnology of your choice, then head to Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple and experience a 1 hour cyclo tour. Finish your day off at the Thang Long Opera Theatre for a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show. For lunch, enjoy a lovely meal at a local restaurant.

Transfer this morning from Hanoi to Halong Bay. The drive is roughly 3 hours.

Your heavenly journey across Halong Bay starts around noon on Tuan Chau Island at the doorstep of Vietnam's most fascinating wonder. As the vessel sets sails, you will be greeted by Paradise Crew and Cruise Manager who will aim throughout your stay at providing you with the highest standards of service for a pure pleasure and utmost comfort onboard the ship’s luxury facilities in stunning surroundings.

Discover some of the treasures disseminated across the Bay of the Descending Dragon during the afternoon like fascinating caves, pristine beaches, picturesque floating villages, fantastic rock formations rising up out of the emerald water.

While onboard, at your leisure you can take advantage of the Spa, Beauty and the Massage services provided. You will also have the opportunity to attend the chef's cooking demonstration and try your skills in the art of traditional Vietnamese cooking. Defined to be one of the highlights of your Paradise stay, a highly refined, innovative and varied cuisine will be presented for lunch and dinner in the elegant dining-room, accompanied by a wide selection of wines and beverages from around the world.

In the morning, early risers can attend a Tai Chi demonstration on the sundeck at the break of dawn. Start the day enjoying some Paradise delights with a colourful buffet breakfast. Continue exploring Halong Bay sailing across its 2000 islets and visiting some of its major highlights.

The Paradise Luxury Cruise will come to an end on Tuan Chau Island between 10.30am and 11.00am. From here you will drive back to Hanoi.

Today, you will take a walking tour that explores the French Quarter through the ideas of its architects and the shape of its stones with your own English speaking guide. It is set in the time from the unraveling of all the threads of civilization, which have left their mark on the area, beginning with recent reminders of Soviet style. Just around the corner, discover a different world altogether as we visit the Buddhist pagoda of Quan Su, the center of Vietnamese Buddhism and Tran Hung Dao streets. You will learn about the French approach to justice and punishment and hear tales of daring Vietnamese resistance to the repressive regime. Enjoy the end of your tour with a nice cup of Vietnamese coffee. Entrance fee, coffee and mineral water is included in this tour. Lunch is not provided.

You will be picked up by private car with an English speaking guide and transferred from the train station to your hotel in Hanoi.

Transfer between Lao Cai train station and Sapa in a private vehicle with guide and driver.

Experience the fantastic scenery of mountains and rice paddy fields as you cycle from Sapa into the surrounding valleys, the villages of Sin Chai and Ta Van village. You will have stops in the villages and have a chance to talk with the Black Hmong or Giay who are working in their fields Eat lunch in the Black Hmong village of Su Pan then continue cycling downhill to Ban Ho, inhabited by the Tay people. In Ban Ho you can observe in daily life of villagers who live in their traditional stilt houses surrounded by rice terraces and vegetable gardens. Walk to the nearby Lavie waterfall, where you can enjoy a swim; or trek uphill to visit to Red Dao village of Nam Toong. Your private vehicle will then pick you at Ban Ho village and transfer you back to Sapa.

Depart from Sapa and enjoy the magnificent view from your private car on the way to Lao Chai village. Along the road, stop at stalls that serve tea, fruits and sweets. Arrive at the Black H’mong village of Lao Chai, where you will experience the daily life of the community. Afterwards, walk from Lao Chai to Ta Van village, where the Zay hill tribes live. Here you will rest and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by your local guide (included). After lunch enjoy an afternoon of trekking through bamboo forests, followed by relaxation beside a waterfall. Continue and explore the Red Dao village of Giang Ta Chai. The tour ends with a return by private car to Sapa

Leaving Sapa early in the morning, travel by private car to Bac Ha Market (2.5hours). Visit the large outdoor market where various Hilltribe peoples come to buy and sell handicraft goods. After exploring the market, enjoy a complimentary lunch at a local restaurant. Leave Bac Ha Market for Trung Do Village, and enjoy a scenic water buffalo cart ride traveling through countryside of the Tay people. From the village, travel by boat down the Chay River and experience the picturesque scenery and magnificent sights along the way. After the boat trip, enjoy a refreshing cup of tea before transport back to Sapa.

Transfer between Sapa and Lao Cai train station in a private vehicle with guide and driver.

You will be picked up by private car with an English speaking guide and transferred from the train station to your hotel in Hanoi.

In the morning, you will be met by your English speaking guide and transferred by private car to Ninh Binh province, located 110km from Hanoi to the South, Tam Coc cave may be one of the most spectacular sights in Vietnam. Along the Hoang Long River, vast limestone cliffs rise out of the rice paddies making Tam Coc somehow similar to Halong Bay, thus Tam Coc is also called Halong Bay on land. A river trip to Tam Coc and through three caves of Tam Coc is wonderful for photo hunters, especially when local residents come to harvest the rice planted along the river or when they transplant seeding for the next crop. Next to Tam Coc is Hoa Lu, the relics of the ancient capital of Vietnam in the 10th century. What remains are temples dedicated to the two heroes, King Dinh and King Le who had chosen Hoa Lu to build the citadel of the capital city. Though the temples are not wholly maintained, some precious antiques are still well preserved such as the whole-stone dragon thrones; wooden has-relieves and lacquered statues of King Dinh, Kinh Le and Queen Duong Van Nga who in turn got married to both of the Kings. Entrance fees and mineral water is included in this tour. Lunch will be prepared for you at a local restaurant.

Transfer between downtown Hanoi and the International Airport.