Vietnam Photo Tour in 15 days

Fly to Hanoi. Upon arrival to the airport, you well be met by our guide and transfer to you hotel.

Meals: No meal

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi.

Wake up very early in the morning and our tour guide will take you to visit Nghi Tam flower market where you could capture the best bustling market in Hanoi and then we will be back to Hoan Kiem Lake to watch local people doing morning meditating and Tai Chi exercise. Back to hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast, you’ll explore Hanoi’s hectic Old Quarter including Hoan Kiem Lake, you will catch sight of many young men with their professional cameras stick to their eyes and beautiful young girls in their fancy clothes attractively posing, capture very lively street atmosphere around the old quarters and then we will visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Tran Quoc Pagoda.

In the afternoon, we will come over Long Bien Bridge over the Red River at sunset where you will surely capture the best shots of the historical bridge. 

Photo opportunities of the day: Morning walk around Hoan Kiem Lake for taking picture of people doing exercise around the lake and great scenery of the lake, Flower Market, Hanoi city tour.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Depart from hotel to Thay Pagoda, built from 11^th century where it is dedicated to the most famous monk: Tu Dao Hanh, considered as the creator of the art of Water Puppet

Then take car ride the rural to Tay Phuong pagoda, one of ten most beautiful pagodas in Vietnam. Located on the top of the hill, this pagoda is very famous about the collection of Buddha and Arhat statues from 17th century and great architecture. This drive will go through green rice field, local villages. It will be the great chances for you to discover the daily life activities in the Red River Delta, interact to local people and feel the real atmosphere of rural area.

After visiting Tay Phuong pagoda, back to the car for driving to the ancient village of Duong Lam, the place so called “Hoi An of the Red River Delta” as still preserve many hundred-year-old houses. It will be your unique experience as you walk along tiny ancient alleys, visit Communal House in Mong Phu hamlet - the only hamlet whose original village entrance gate remains intact, dedicated to national heroes. Enjoy the great home hosted lunch in traditional atmosphere in the oldest house in the village of Mr.Hung date back to 1649. After lunch, take another bike ride around the village before driving back to Hanoi.

Photo opportunities of the day: Tay Phuong Pagoda, Bike ride in rural area around Duong Lam Village. It is great chance to take the pictures of rural area, people working on the field and local daily life. Tour to Duong Lam village. Take a picture of unique village in the Red River delta and great architecture.

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Depart for Tho Ha village, the famous village of terracotta products before 20th century. Discover village through narrow and zigzag alleys with the old houses had been constructed from broken part of terracotta from the past. In the morning you could visit also a house of Mr.Viet, one of the villager who could show you how to make Rice Paper the present job of the village. Walking over village cemetery to the dike, where you can see the village from distance over the beautiful lake.

Take a ferry back to the car then transfer to Homestay in Dong Trieu where you could relax and make biking tour to have more interacts with local peoples.

Other option: you could have lunch in the Homestay and continue trip to Ha Long Bay.

Photo opportunities of the day: Take a picture of unique Tho Ha village with its unque architctures, loccal life in River delta. Visit local family and unique pagoda in the village

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation: Homestay

Morning depart to Halong bay through Red River Delta. Upon arrival to Halong, take Eagle View of Ha Long on the top of Bai Tho Mountain (optional base on availability, note that you have to climb 600 steps) and Ha Long Fish Market. Drive back to Bai Chay area where you are going to board overnight cruise. Receive cruise briefing and check in to cabins and begin cruise. Passage into the picturesque “Dragon descending to the sea” Bay has 1,969 limestone islets rising from the sea, many of them containing beautiful grottoes.

Enjoy lunch with deluxe Vietnamese and International Set Menu. Cruise to Titop Island where you can take a short trek to a nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay dotted with our Junk, go swimming on a quite beach or sunbathing on the sundeck. Transfer back to the boat and sail for approximately 45 minutes to the second destination - the Bat Cave area. Upon arrival, you can either take a 40 minute kayaking program to the nearby Bat Cave and lagoon and surrounding waters or visit the largest floating fishing village in Halong Bay with opportunity to interact with fish men who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. We will travel to the village on the tender and tour the village for approximately 20 minutes. Back on board, enjoy cocktails while watching sunset before dinner. In the evening, you can watch the famous Indochina Movie in the dining room or join squid fishing from the boat with the crew. Depending on weather conditions, we can travel by tender and you will be able to board the squid boat and see how the local fishermen catch squid and other fish.

Photo opportunities of the day: Egle View of Ha Long Bay, great scenery in Halong bay on the boat trip in the most detailed way.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation: Junk in Halong Bay

Greet the day with a morning Tai Chi exercise with an opportunity to view the sunrise over the bay Coffee, tea and breakfast pastries served in the dining room. Cruise to Surprise Cave area then transfer to the Cave by tender. This is one of two most beautiful Caves in Halong Bay with great collection of stalagmites and stalactites in the beautiful space. It is really a wonder of nature. Back to the boat for a final glimpse of the Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock with Set Menu or Buffet Brunch served in the dining room.

Back to the pier then transfer to Hanoi for stop over to relax and shopping or drive directly to Noi Bai Airport for a latest flight to Hue. Upon landing at Phu Bai airport, transfer to your hotel in Hue.

Photo opportunities of the day:  Great scenery in Halong bay on the boat trip in the most detailed way

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hue

In this morning, take a beautiful walk over the Trang Tien Bridge to Dong Ba Market, where you can see the most interesting activities in the morning of the market. Back to the hotel for breakfast then take a cyclo trip along the river where you can see the fishing village, the small street where local people doing lots of business and around the area of Imperial Citadel. Stop at Noon gate of Imperial Citadel for the walking tour to the inner area of the citadel where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945 including Flag Tower, Noon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, and Forbidden Purple City. 

Afternoon visit Tu Duc and Minh Mang Tomb Tombs, discover beautiful and impressive architecture of this unique construction in Hue  as well as the story of the Kings there. After that drive to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, the symbol of Hue city. On the way back, take a walk around Kim Long village for pictures of daily life of local people there.

Photo opportunities of the day: Cyclo tour in Hue, tour to citadel and tombs of the Kings. Walking tour to Kim Long Village.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hue

Morning depart to Danang through famous Hai Van Pass. Upon arrival, visit Cham Museum with great collection of sand stone artifact from 4th to 13th century. Then drive to Hoi An, the little attractive town very famous as living museum which was originally one of major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century. Check in to the hotel then take the orientation walk around the town. Evening is free at leisure.

Photo opportunities of the day: Drive over Hai Van Pass and beautiful drive along the sea coast.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Morning take an early walk to Cam Nam Bridge, fish market and vegetable market before having breakfast in the hotel. Then take a walk to Hoi An ancient town. We will start the walk from small alley from Phan Chu Trinh Street to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. This is the typical ancient street of Hoi An, that can show you great atmosphere of the ancient town. Visit the Japanese Cover Bridge – the symbol of Hoi An. After that visit Tan Ky, the most well known and authentic ancient house in town. Then take a walk along the Nguyen Thai Hoc - the ancient street of Hoi An to the market of the town. Visit the local market and Phuc Kien Congressional Assembly Hall, the communal place for Chinese community from Fukien province in China as well the worshiping temple to Thien Hau, the Goddess protecting people on the sea – that was so important for the Chinese Merchant and Fishman in the past. Then you have free time for discovering the town on your own or shopping. 

Afternoon depart for the cyclo trip to Cam Nam Village (this is exclusive discovery feature of ICT). The cyclo will take you from the town to Cam Nam Bridge. You will have the first stop for the photo opportunity of the activities and scenery on the Thu Bon River. Then the cyclo will take you along the Thu Bon River bank, where you can have another photo stop for panorama view of Hoi An from other side of river. You will ride along the riverside and cycle through local villages of Cam Nam. This is untouched area by tourism with very friendly and hospitable local people. You can see their daily life activities or even viewing the interior of their house and their life through always opened doors. The cyclo trip will be ended at green small canal covered by water coconut trees. Embark on the boat and take a cruise to Thu Bon River. You can experience the local daily life along river, such as fishing, farming, catching clam …. Come back to Hoi An around sunset time.

Photo opportunities of the day: Morning tour to Fish Market and walk around Hoian. Cyclo to Cam Nam Village and boat trip on Thu Bon river. Pictures of Hoi An ancient town.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Early morning we will drive to My Son, the Holly land of Champa kingdom date back from 4th to 13th century. Arrive to My Son before it getting crowded by the other tourists, you will have great chance to discover and feel the great ancient atmosphere of the complex of nearly 70 difference towers there, where  you can find the best brick sculpture in the world. My Son also had been recognized to be culture world Heritage in 2000. Afternoon free for shopping and further discovery of Hoian on your own.

Photo opportunities of the day: My Son - the holy land of Cham people. Great history, architecture and nature.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Hoi An

Morning transfer to Danang airport for the flight to Saigon. Upon arrival take tour to Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, Central Post office. Afternoon, take a tour to China town, the special identity of Saigon. Visit Thien Hau Pagoda, where hundreds of local people come and burn the incense for their luck, prosperity and happiness. After that, take a walk around Cho Lon, the biggest whole sale market in town. It is great combination of busy and bustling atmosphere of the market and traditional Chinese Architecture there.

Photo opportunities of the day: City tour in Saigon. Cho Lon Market and Thien Hau Pagoda in the Chine Town.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon

Morning depart for Tay Ninh, the head quarter of Cao Dai religion. On arrival we will have time to visit the impressive Holy Temple of Caodaism, the famous local religion that is the symbol of the curious combination of the Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity and Buddhism before attending the fantastic mid-day mass. After having lunch in local restaurant, drive to Cu Chi, the famous network of tunnels were used as the base from which the Vietnamese mounted their operations of the Tet Offensive in 1968. The Cu Chi Tunnels consist of more than 250 km of underground tunnels. This main axis system has many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels, the tunnels are between 0.5 to 1m wide, just enough for a person to crawl along. Transfer back to Saigon Ho Chi Minh City.

Photo opportunities of the day: Cao Dai Temple, Mid-day Mass and Cu Chi Tunnel.

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon

Morning we drive 2 hours from Saigon to Cai Lay, a small but fertile town in the Mekong Delta through the new national free way. Upon arrival, drop off at the town’s local pier and start boarding our small motorized boat for a 30 min boat trip on one of the small branches of the Mekong River. Witness the lively life on the water of the locals. Disembark at Cam Son bridge where you start a leisure cycling trip (alternative transportation is our “xe loi”, a fun local transportation) into a deep Mekong Delta exploration. The ride is about 7km on shady narrow village roads curving over tiny canals and past fruit gardens and sleepy villages. Many kids will greet you with a big smile and “xin chao” or Hello. During the village road, you will have a chance to stop and visit local factories, fish farm, rice paddies to learn briefly about the local economy, business. Arrive at a lush orchard with diverse tropical fruits. Have a friendly chat with the owner – a former veteran with interesting topics about his motherland as well as his daily life both past and present. He will be very happy to walk you around his garden. Enjoy the opportunity to taste fresh fruits picked right from the trees. Then relax with a sampan ride to visit a local ancient house, have a brief interaction with these friendly residents in their 100 year‐old house before tasting their hosted lunch with traditional dishes of the Mekong land. Bid farewell to the family then drive
to Can Tho.

Photo opportunities of the day: Tour to Cai Lay for daily life activities of local people and typical scenery of famous Mekong Delta. Boat cruise along the river and canals, local fruit and nurseling garden.

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Can Tho

Morning take the early boat trip to visit Cai Rang floating market where local people whole sale all product of Mekong Delta. It will be great chance for taking part to the local activities and taking pictures. Then continue by boat to visit the local bustling inland market before visiting Rice processing factory. The car picks up at Ninh Kieu Wharf take you to visit Binh Thuy house – the most impressive ancient house in Mekong Delta then enjoy lunch at Nam Bo Restaurant. On the way back to Saigon, we visit Xeo Quyt, an army base used by the Viet Cong during the war. Take a peaceful sampan cruise along a canal while listening to war time stories. Arrive to Saigon in the late afternoon. Farewell dinner at Indochine restaurant.

Photo opportunities of the day: Great picture in Cai Rang floating Market, Local Market in land and rice processing factory. Impressive sampan rowing at Xeo Quyt.

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Saigon

At leisure until transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for departure flight. Tour concluded.

Have a good trip!