Vietnam Classic 12 Day Tour

Welcome to Vietnam! You will be picked up and transferred to your hotel in HCMC at any time. After you check in, you are then free to explore or chill until you meet the rest of your group for a welcome dinner feast with your new friends. Take a dip in the rooftop pool overlooking the city and get ready for the trip of a lifetime!

Ho Chi Minh After breakfast, get ready for a cultural experience like no other, learning the national sport called da cao! This is also called “foot badminton” and you will see it played in every park around the country. Learn the basics from one of the local teams we support as part of our community projects. After that, we will head out on a walking tour to see sights and some hidden gems of this incredible city. Refresh back at the hotel before heading to the train station for our overnight train to Da Nang.

Kayak into Hoi An Upon arrival, you will be picked up by our team and transferred to the banks of the Thu Bon river where we will kayak through the local farming areas and palm groves to finish in the middle of the majestic old town of Hoi An. Take a short walk to your hotel to freshen up, maybe take a dip in the pool, then head out to explore the area. In the evening your tour leader will take you on a guided walk through the UNESCO heritage town with its quaint alleys, exotic lanterns, and amazing food!

Hoi An Rise and shine! Spend the morning cycling through the countryside by small villages and rice fields to a quiet riverbank where we will start collecting plastic that has been dumped all along the river. Enjoy a refreshing sugarcane juice by the river before heading back to a Hoi An garden house where we will classify the trash to make eco bricks for a local NGO. An ecobrick is a plastic bottle packed with used plastic to a set density and serve as reusable building blocks. This project not only helps to clean the riverbank but also builds a good amount of eco bricks that can be used for construction in Quang Nam province’s remote areas, and used to build playgrounds and schools. The afternoon is yours to explore however you want (beach time!).

Open Top Jeep into Hue After having breakfast at the hotel, you’ll travel to Hue (the Imperial City) in style, by an open-top army jeep through what was voted as one of the most beautiful roads in the world! We will start by making our way up the Hai Van Pass to some viewpoints with awesome photo opportunities overlooking the spectacular coastline. On the way, we’ll also visit an area with historical French colonial buildings, plus a few other viewpoints along this amazing stretch of road. We will arrive in the historical town of Hue, the old seat of the Nguyen Dynasty, in the afternoon.

Hue Have breakfast in the hotel and prepare for an adventure to the Imperial City this morning, where you’ll gain insight into Vietnam’s imperial history and culture. We’ll then make our way to a local garden house on the banks of the Perfume River to learn some Vietnamese classics in a cooking class. Enjoy the fantastic cuisine with a poetic view to the Thien Mu pagoda on the opposite river bank. Relaxing until checking out time and you’ll be transferred to Hue Train Station for your night train to Ninh Binh and then on to our local homestay experience in the remote Pu Long National Park!

Onto Pu Luong Get ready for your trip to one of the most amazing landscape destinations of Vietnam! You will have a chance to travel through quiet villages in Ninh Binh, looking around about local life surrounded by rice paddies, spectacular mountain ranges, and pristine rivers. Later we will hop on the bus and head to Pu Luong National Park, the drive will take 3 hours. Once we arrive we will trek uphill to your very authentic homestay in Ban Hieu which is nestled between rice paddies and mountains. Have dinner with local families and experience incredible off the beaten path scenery all around you. Bed down tonight in one of the local houses.

Puluong National Park After breakfast with a wonderful valley view, we will start with a short trek down hill, heading to a beautiful traditional rural bamboo lake house where you can bamboo rafting or swim in the crystal clear water. Picnic lunch will be served here by the local family in an amazing setting surrounded by nature. Get yourself ready after lunch for a waterfall chasing adventure. The guide will take you to his secret route to go up and see the stunning waterfall inside the valley through little trails in thw forest. Take in the serene views along the way as you wind through local farms and villages. This truely is a place to unplug and just take in your surroundings. Trek back by rice fields and farms to the homestay for dinner and drinks.

To Hanoi As we say goodbye to our homestay family and scenery in Pu Luong, we can look forward to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and a stay in a beautiful, boutique hotel! Take it easy in the morning and then after a big breakfast, we head off. We arrive in Hanoi in the afternoon and you’ll have time to freshen up and join the rest of your group for a city walk before a feast of local delicacies

Ha Long & Bai Tu Long Bay We will jump on our luxury transport to the coast where we will await our traditional boat to take us out into the famous Ha Long Bay. We get away from the crowds by travelling north to Bai Tu Long and more of the untouched locations of Ha Long Bay. Kayak around the breathtaking scenery around Cap La Island and see the floating fishing villages. Opt to visit one of the secret beaches in Cong Do Island before heading back to our boat for sunset drinks and dinner on the top deck. If you feel like a challenge then you can take part in squid fishing with some of the crew, or you can just sit back with a cocktail and reflect on your journey.

Thien Canh Cave & Hanoi Start your day with a chilled Tai Chi routine on the sundeck, or catch a morning view of the stunning bay’s landscape with your morning cup coffee. We’ll then cruise over to one of the most famous cave systems in the whole bay, Thien Canh Son. After a short trek up past some incredible view points over the secluded bay, you’ll be in awe once you step inside the cave. We’ll explore the cave and the trails around the island before making our way back to the boat for our trip back to the mainland. On the way back try your hand at the famous Vietnamese fruit & vegetable carving before disembarking and heading back to Hanoi once again. This is our final night in Vietnam and so we will take you on a guided evening food tour around the best places in Hanoi. From banh mi carts that only locals know about, to famous dumpling stands, the best pho, and of course egg coffee. We’ll do it all and finish up with a local rice beer! Truely the perfect end to your Vietnamese adventure.

Goodbye! All good things have to come to an end, and sadly this is our final day in Vietnam together. After your breakfast and maybe a few tears with your One Life family, you can head to the airport at any time.