Vietnam Compact is one of the scheduled departure tours by Paradissa with classic itinerary from Sai Gon to Ha Noi. The tour pace is easy with tour activities including culture-touring, walking, boat cruising. The accommodation is of 4 star standard, centrally located at each city.
The tour is 8 days/7 nights covering major tourist attractions of Viet Nam including the World Heritage Sites of Hoi An, Hue and Ha Long Bay. Most meals are included with samples of bests of the regional cuisine.
Time and cost-saving, engaging and unforgettable has been the feed back from our travellers for Vietnam Compact Tour. Please don’t forget to drop us a few lines after your trip. Enjoy your time in Vietnam with Paradissa Travel!
Hotels: 4* hotels in all cities with convenient locations
The tour price includes
English-speaking guide;
Transportation + air tickets (with domestic air port tax) for SGN-DAD/HUI-HAN as indicated on the tour program;
Tourist boats for the cruises on Ha Long Bay, on the Perfume River in Hue as indicated on the tour program;
Accommodation on twin-shared basis as indicated on the tour program;
Meals as indicated on the tour program: B= Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner;
All admission fees during the guided times as indicated on the tour program;
The tour price doesn't include
Insurance of any types;
International airfares and airport taxes;
Drinks or personal expenses;
Others not clearly specified in the inclusions;
VIETNAM COMPACT
Day1 ( Monday ) Arrive in Sai Gon (D)
Paradissa Travel driver and tour guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at leisure. In the evening, we’ll head out for a fine-dining dinner cruise. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.
Day2 ( Tuesday ) Sai Gon - Cu Chi - Sai Gon (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Travel for 70 km to Cu Chi once famous for the legendary tunnel system which at the height stretched over 250 km. In Cu Chi, you will have to check these tunnels of 3 levels yourself by crawling in the narrow tunnels. We’ll be surprised to find out how people made these tunnels and find out how life of the local people was during the Second Indochina War. After exploring Cu Chi Tunnel, we travel back Sai Gon and enjoy free time at leisure. Lunch is at a local restaurant in Sai Gon and dinner is on our own. Overnight in Saigon.
Day3 ( Wednesday ) Sai Gon - Da Nang - Hoi An (VN 324: 1120 - 1230) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
You have free time at leisure until our tour guide and driver come back and transfer you back to the airport for the flight to Da Nang. Arriving at Da Nang Airport, meet our local tour guide and travel to Hoi An Old Town. We’ll tour the Marble Mountains en route.
The Marble Mountains are a cluster of 5 mountains supposedly representing 5 elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Soil. There are caves and pagodas built into caves visited by the local pilgrims. Right close to the Marble Mountains are the Stone-Carving Village and the famous China Beach which served as an R&R base for US Servicemen and war reporters in the past.
Arriving in Hoi An, we’ll have an oriented walking tour of Hoi An ancient town which was busy with trade back a few centuries ago. Walking in the narrow streets flanked by old merchant houses we can imagine the hustling and bustling time when the town was filled up with merchants and goods from around the world. We’ll visit some old merchant houses, a Chinese Congregational Hall, Hoi An Museum, and the famous Japanese covered-bridge. Lunch is at a local restaurant in Da Nang and dinner is served with fine cuisine of Hoi An in the old town. Overnight in Hoi An.
Day4 ( Thursday ) Hoi An - Hue (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We check out of the hotel in the morning. Our journey brings us through the scenic countryside of the Central Region of Vietnam to Hue Imperial City. We’ll stop at the Lang Co Beach with fine white sand against the green mountain backdrop and the Hai Van Pass which offers 360 degrees of breathtaking mountain and sea.
Arriving in Hue, we’ll tour Hue Imperial Citadel and the Dong Ba exotic market on the bank of the Perfume River.
Lunch is at a local restaurant with Hue fine cuisine. Dinner is served with Hue famous royal cuisine. Overnight in Hue.
Hue was the capital city of Vietnam from 1802 - 1945. Hue is a charming imperial city with combination of the young and the old. The Perfume River bisects the city into the northern and southern parts. To the north is the ancient citadel surrounded by moats which were home to the royal court of Vietnam in the 19th century. Visiting the ancient citadel you can visit the Palace where the king lived, the quarter for the royal family and concubines, the royal library….Lots of damages during the war are still found here though. To the south is where hotels and fine dining restaurants are located.
Hue is no doubt the city of harmony with the encircling green mountains, the meandering rivers, the architecture nestled in trees….Everything of Hue seems to be just in the right place and in perfect harmony. To the western side of the city is where the royal tombs are found. The Vietnamese kings thought that the West was the direction of sunset and permanent rest. That was why they built different royal tombs in the western part of Hue city. Here the kings would rest permanently in complete peace and tranquility.
Each of the royal tombs was designed by the king himself and the architecture of each tomb shows a lot about the king and the context of Vietnam at the time. Many tombs were constructed, completed and used by the king when they were still in reign. The royal tombs of Hue are definitely the fine pieces of arts.
Day5 ( Friday ) Hue - Ha Noi (VN 244: 1440 - 1550) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We start with a cruise on the Perfume River to the Thien Mu Pagoda and King Tu Duc’s Tomb, then we’ll have time for refreshment before we transfer you to Phu Bai Airport for your flight to Ha Noi. Our last feast for lunch is at a local restaurant in Hue.
Arriving at Noi Bai Airport, our local tour guide will meet and escort you to the city. In the evening, we'll sample the elegant cuisine of Ha Noi at a local restaurant. Overnight in Ha Noi.
Day6 ( Saturday ) Ha Noi (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Our tour starts with Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace; this whole area reminds you some parts of the Vietnamese history and the most revered man of the nation. Then we’ll visit Tran Quoc Pagoda-Nation founding pagoda, Quan Thanh temple where you can enjoy the freshness of the West Lake and learn about the spiritual life of the Vietnamese. Our lunch is served at a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, we’ll visit the Temple of Literature-1st University of Vietnam and the Ngoc Son temple. We’ll have a walking tour of the Old Quarter and free time for shopping in the narrow hustling bustling streets of the Old Town which dated back from the 11th century. In late afternoon, we'll take you to a traditional water puppet show for sampling this Vietnamese unique art of water puppet performance. After the show, we'll take you back to your hotel. We’ll have free time for dinner. Overnight in Hanoi.
Ha Noi was chosen to be the capital city of Vietnam from the 1010 A.D. The ruling king Ly Cong Uan that time knew that choosing the capital site would be vital to the kingdom’s prosperity. After coming into power he patrolled the kingdom looking for a suitable site for building the capital city. It’s said that he arrived at the bank of the Red River a five-colored dragon appeared soaring into the sky. He researched the whole area and found out that it was perfect in terms of Feng Shui. The construction of the capital city was started right after that. That time it was called Thang Long which in Vietnamese means “the City of Ascending Dragons”. With the arrival of the French in the 19th century, new colonial styled architecture was added to the charming traditional architecture of Ha Noi.
Nowadays the travellers to Ha Noi know the city as 3 main areas: The Former Citadel Area, the Old Quarter and the French Quarter. Of course the city has more areas to the north, to the south and to the west where high-rise buildings are found to accommodate the growing economy. With much development going on, the old areas of Ha Noi are specially protected by the authority and still the city retains the charm like no others.
Day7 ( Sunday ) Ha Noi - Ha Long Bay – Ha Noi (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We start at 08:00 A.M for the 3 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. At half way, we'll have a visit to a handicraft workshop with fine clothes, embroidered paintings, stone statuettes and all kinds of gems mined in Vietnam such as star rubies or sapphires... Our destination is the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay. The bay offers some 3000 mountain islands and islets towering in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Vietnam Sea.
Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed on board our boat and treated with green tea while the boat glides further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs on the emerald green water, you'll have relaxing time adoring the Creator for the stunning works of arts. We’ll visit the Cave of Dau Do and have fresh seafood for lunch before docking back on the shore where our car takes us back to Ha Noi. Overnight in Ha Noi.
Day8 ( Monday ) Depart Ha Noi (B)
You have free time until we transfer you back to Noi Bai International Airport for your departure flight. Time to bid farewell to the beaming Vietnamese smiles.
