Private tours, custom tours, personalized guided tours in Vietnam
Highlights
- We prepare custom tours based on your goals, time, likes and dislikes.
- We meet with you, listen to how you want to spend your time, share our honest opinions and suggestions of the best places to visit, and plan your own private tour for you, and with you.
- Use this sample itinerary to stimulate ideas. Then submit an inquiry with questions you have or to work with our local consultant to design a custom itinerary for you.
- We can help you with a short 2-3 day visit or stay 2-3 weeks and we will show you some amazing out of the way corners of Vietnam!
Overview
There are a lot of companies with good packaged tours that will take you to the highlights of Vietnam. But we believe your holiday or vacation should be more than that. You should experience the country your way, at your pace, and with your goals in mind. We meet with you, listen to how you want to spend your time, share our honest opinions and suggestions of the best places to visit, and plan your own private tour for you and with you.
Then we organize and book all the details--hotels, transportation, activities and many of the meals. You'll have your own private local guide and we're available throughout your trip to make sure everything goes smoothly. We'll design a personalized itinerary for you--you decide where you go, how you travel, the pace, number of days, type of lodging experience, food and drink experience, and how you want to interact with your guide.
Here's a sample medium length itinerary, a good suggestion for people who don’t have much time but still want to see all the highlights of Vietnam. The charming, traditional, and authentic Old Quarter of Hanoi, a half day boat cruise on the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay, a visit to a village reserving Water Puppets and its stories, the citadels and temples in the former capital of Hue.
Then to the picturesque Hoi An Ancient Town, the bustling Ho Chi Minh City, the one and only Mekong Delta – its rivers, canals and fruit orchards, and the Cu Chi Tunnels from the Vietnam/American war. It may seem like so many things packed in such a small backpack, but all are selected carefully and you will still have free time and be comfortable!
- Day 1 - Hanoi Arrival
Arrival at the Hanoi International Airport, you will be welcomed by our guide and transferred to downtown to check into your hotel. Enjoy your welcome dinner at a local restaurant with Vietnamese cuisine, as we help orient you to Vietnam. Overnight in Hanoi.
- Day 2 - Hanoi’s Highlights – Ha Long by car
After breakfast, start to explore our capital, Hanoi. You'll visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, His House on Stilt, One Pillar Pagoda and Tran Quoc Pagoda on the West Lake. Next, you'll visit the Temple of Literature, the first University of Vietnam. In the afternoon, you'll have a one hour cyclo tour in the bustling Old Quarter of Hanoi, experiencing our busy, local daily life.
The Old Quarter of Hanoi consists of 36 small, narrow streets. It’s compared to Chinatown in Ho Chi Minh City. The Old Quarter is the most bustling area in Hanoi with many shops, restaurants, bars and boutique hotels. You can find everything here at a reasonable price if you know how to bargain (normally 50% off). The Old Quarter is also the place where you can find all kinds of Vietnamese traditional/popular foods and drinks. In the evening, you can stretch your legs walking around Ta Hien – backpackers/fresh beer streets, Dao Duy Tu – iced tea street, Dinh Liet – woolen products street and Hang Dao – “Made in China” clothing street….
Later, say “goodbye” to Hanoi and proceed to Ha Long City. Drive between lush rice fields of the Red River Delta. Arriving in Ha Long City, check into your hotel and enjoy free time. Overnight in Ha Long City.
- Day 3 - Ha Long Bay Cruise – Hanoi – Hue by flight
After breakfast, check out of your hotel and be transferred to the harbor where you will embark on a “junk” boat cruise around the islets, caves and grottos of Ha Long Bay. The boat will stop a while for you to take a short visit to the limestone formations inside Thien Cung and Dau Go grottos. Enjoy a seafood lunch on board before disembarking the harbor and heading directly to the airport for a flight to Hue. Our guide will greet you personally at the airport and drive you to your hotel for check in. Overnight in Hue.
- Day 4 - Hue – Orientation
After breakfast, take a boat upstream on the Perfume River to the pagoda of the Heavenly Lady (Thien Mu) pagoda. Built in 1601 between a river and a pine forest, the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue is one of the oldest and prettiest religious buildings in the country. Among the many interesting artifacts housed at the complex is the car that took the monk Thich Quang Duc to his self-immolation in 1963 Saigon.
Then return to downtown to visit the Imperial Citadel. Visit the Citadel, including the Flag Tower, Ngo Mon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, Forbidden Purple City (Tu Cam Thanh). At noon time, lunch will be served at a garden house restaurant with Hue cuisine.
In the afternoon, ride bicycles to the quiet countryside of Hue to visit rice fields, small villages and the Thanh Toan Bridge. Your last stop today is Dong Ba Market where you can buy the best cloth for long Vietnamese style dresses at reasonable price. Overnight in Hue.
- Day 5 - Hue – Hoi An by car
After breakfast, proceed to Hoi An along the central coast of Vietnam with a stop on Hai Van Pass to observe the beauty of the beaches and rocky mountains of Vietnam, and Lang Co Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam with long white sand and twinkling blue water.
Arriving in Hoi An, check into your hotel and enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant with food in Hoi An style. In the afternoon, follow your guide to walk around the tiny town of Hoi An for a city tour: 400 year old Japanese Bridge, 300 year old Chinese temple, 200 year old Vietnamese former merchants' house. Overnight in Hoi An.
- Day 6 - Hoi An – Danang – Ho Chi Minh City by flight
After breakfast, ride a bicycle to Ky Son Martial Art Courtyard, meet your master and he will introduce to you about the history, main characteristics and advantage of Tai Chi. Follow him to practice in a short Tai Chi class and learn some massage methods that you can apply to your family at home!
Say Goodbye to your master and continue your bike riding to the home of a craftsman in the city. Here you will get a brief introduction to the history, shape, and color of the lanterns as well as the many stages of making them. Then, you will be shown how to decorate and make your own lantern. You can also keep it as a souvenir. Lunch will be served at local restaurants in town before boarding a flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
Upon arrival, meet your local guide and transfer to downtown for hotel check-in. Evening is free to do whatever takes your fancy. We recommend a few hours relaxing at Sax N’ Art Jazz Club for a Saxophone performance show by the famous local musician, Manh Tuan. His show starts at 21:00 and lasts until midnight. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Day 7 - Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong Delta – Ho Chi Minh City
After breakfast, it takes only a 2-hour pleasant drive to Ben Tre province crossing Rach Mieu bridge. Upon arrival in Hung Vuong Pier, hop on a motorized boat on Ben Tre River – one of the tributaries of the Mekong river while sight-seeing lively activities along the river such as fishing and boats transferring fruits, flowers and rice to local markets. Our first stop is at a brick kiln to see how to make bricks traditionally by printing and baking. Those brick kilns are opened in summer time only when it’s enough sunshine to dry bricks. Continue on to visit a coconut processing workshop located along the canals. Return to the boat and go through natural scissors creeks to a village and see some local houses, making sleeping mats, and enjoying some local fruits.
Take a Tuk-Tuk (motorized cart) or bicycle on shady paths, pass by green rice fields and vegetable plains to be able to touch on real life and find out about tropical culture from peasants. Have lunch at a local riverside restaurant.
After lunch, we take a rowing-boat along beautiful water palm creek before meeting the motorized boat and transferring you back to the pier. Return to Ho Chi Minh City for overnight. - Day 8 - Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnels
After breakfast, explore Ho Chi Minh City’s highlights including the Reunification Palace, War Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Centre Post Office.
After lunch at a local restaurant, visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which are 70 kilometers North West of Ho Chi Minh City, created in 1948 to assist the Viet Minh to combat the French. This is an underground city with living areas, kitchens, storage, weapon shops, field hospitals, command centers. During the American/Vietnam War, the entire area of Cu Chi was designated a fire free zone and was heavily bombarded. Since 1988, two sections of the tunnels have been open for visitors. You can try shooting real guns in Cu Chi with M16, M60 & AK47's!
In the evening, a Farewell Dinner will be served on a River Cruise. The boat will cruise along Saigon River for 2 hours while an international/Vietnamese buffet is served and live music are performed. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Day 9 - Ho Chi Minh City – Departure
Breakfast at your hotel and then you will be transferred to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport for your departure flight. Goodbye to Vietnam!
- Private tour for 2 people at 4* hotels