Individual Trip: North & South Vietnam, 8 days

Day 1: Athens/Thessaloniki – Hanoi

Meeting at the airport and flight via intermediate stop to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

Day 2: Hanoi

Arrival at the airport and, after completing visa procedures, we will meet our representative to transfer to our hotel for rest and overnight stay. Hanoi is a city that spreads between lakes and constitutes the economic and cultural center of Northern Vietnam.

Day 3: Hanoi

After breakfast, early in the morning we will visit the famous Quang Phu Cau village, known for its 100-year tradition of incense-making. Seeing up close the process of bamboo cutting, coloring, and sun-drying, we will have the opportunity to capture the most beautiful photos with the bright colors of the sticks.
In case of rain, the visit to the incense village is replaced by a visit to the Bat Trang Pottery Village (45 minutes drive), where we can watch the artisans creating ceramics. We will participate in making a sample
Then we will head back to Hanoi to the famous Train Street to photograph or video it returning to Hanoi’s central station. We will have a simple lunch with Banh Mi and Bun Cha, traditional specialties of Hanoi. We continue to the city center, where the magnificent French colonial buildings of the center charm with their elegance. We will start with the historic Hoa Lo Prison, where Vietnamese revolutionaries and American prisoners of war were held during the Vietnam War. Next, we will visit the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university (10th century), and learn about Confucianism and traditional education; we will see the Khue Van Pavilion and the doctors’ steles resting on turtles.
We will pass by the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which is indicative of the respect the country’s residents harbor for the man who changed the course of their history, and Ba Dinh Square, where the independence of Vietnam was declared on September 2, 1945. We continue to West Lake and the famous Tran Quoc Pagoda (Hanoi’s oldest pagoda, dating back to 528 AD) to get acquainted with Vietnam’s Buddhist tradition.
Our full-day excursion ends with a tasting of the famous egg coffee. The country is famous not only for the best quality of coffee, but also for its different preparation methods, with egg coffee being one of them, a unique experience for visitors.
Around 17.30 we return to our hotel for the overnight stay.

Day 4: Hanoi – Ha Long

After breakfast, we begin today’s journey with a route of rare travel beauty as we drive to the world-famous Ha Long (165 km). Upon arrival, we will board traditional cruise boats for our subsequent 4-hour cruise in the bay of the same name, which is a unique experience. Hundreds of lush green limestone cliffs, the result of millions of years of erosion, compose a dreamlike landscape that fully satisfies the senses. Our cruise is accompanied by a delicious lunch with seafood and other Vietnamese delicacies, after first anchoring near a covered cave to swim. We then return to the cruise boat for dinner and our overnight stay.

Day 5: Ha Long – Hanoi – Saigon (Ho Chi Minh)

Breakfast and we continue the cruise in the natural beauty of the area. After our lunch, we will be transferred to Hanoi airport for our domestic flight to Saigon, this proud city that evokes memories of the bleak moments of the war but is also accompanied by images of development and progress that impress the traveler. Arrival at the airport and transfer to our hotel for our overnight stay.

Day 6: Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) – Cu Chi Tunnels

Breakfast and departure for the famous labyrinthine underground Cu Chi tunnels, which during the Vietnam War were the hiding place of the Viet Cong and stretch over an area of 200 km. We will watch an interesting documentary about the life of the Viet Cong inside the tunnels, enter the tunnels and see how they lived during the war, their kitchens, their bedrooms, their weapons storage areas, their medical clinics, and study their hidden escape doors. Optionally, we can test our skills by firing a few rounds with a Kalashnikov. Return to Saigon at around 12.30 and after having a light lunch with local food, we will start our city tour. The old Presidential Palace of South Vietnam, today known as the Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum, as well as the wonderful Historical center with landmark buildings such as the City Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral, and of course the famous Central Post Office dominate our tour. Overnight stay.

Day 7: Saigon – Ben Tre – Mekong River Delta

Very early in the morning (08.00), after our breakfast, we will depart for the Mekong region, south to the Ben Tre province, enjoying the beautiful lush green rice paddies. We will board our private boat for a ride on the river, where we will visit a local brick factory, a coconut workshop, a traditional floating thatched house, and also see local private cultivations. Then, we will ride a tuk-tuk and tour around the village through gardens and paths with tropical fruits and Bonsai plants. We will have lunch at a restaurant on the river bank and continue our boat ride through the beautiful channels of the river. In the afternoon, return to the city for overnight stay.

Day 8: Saigon – Athens/Thessaloniki

Breakfast and a free day for a walk around the city. In the afternoon, departure for the airport for our return flight to Greece via intermediate stop, arriving the following day, or if we wish, we can continue to another region of Southeast Asia such as Cambodia or Laos.

Travel Notes