Below is a brief over view of this trip. For the complete itinerary Click Here . The itinerary
is in a PDF format. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is available at the above link.

Day 1-2 - Travel to Hanoi , Vietnam

Arriving in Hanoi you will be met by your guide and will transfer to your hotel.  Hanoi , the capitol of Vietnam is a tree lined city filled with French-colonial architecture. This evening you will have a wonderful welcome dinner. One of many great meals in Vietnam.

Accommodations: Hilton Hanoi Opera (Deluxe) Sofitel Metropole (Luxury) Dinner

Day 3 - Hanoi

After breakfast at your hotel, you and your guide will venture into the city. Sites included are the Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, Opera House and the city's lovely lakes. In the afternoon, you will continue to the old quarter by cyclo. The old quarter encompasses more than a thousand years of history. It remains one of Vietnam's most lively and unusual places. It is here one can buy anything from a gravestone to silk pajamas. Exploring the maze of back streets is fascinating and there are endless things to buy - wool clothes, cosmetics, gold and silver jewelry, silk clothing, and herbal medicines. In the evening, you will enjoy a performance of traditional water puppets.

Accommodations: Hilton Hanoi Opera (Deluxe) Sofitel Metropole (Luxury) Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4 - Hanoi-Ha Long Bay

After breakfast, you will be picked up by a local guide and travel from Hanoi through the fertile countryside to Bai Chey.  This fishing town is your starting point in viewing the magnificent Ha Long Bay, a natural wonder. The bay has stunning limestone pinnacles jutting out of the ocean. Legend holds that the three-thousand limestone pinnacles scattered throughout the Gulf of Tonkin were created by a dragon's tail as he slipped into the sea. From here you will board the Halong Ginger Cruise, a deluxe cruising ship built in the style of a traditional Chinese junk. It is fitted with accommodations of the highest standard. As lunch is served, you will set sail through the bay, passing dramatic limestone islands. In the afternoon, enjoy visiting some of the many caves and grottos, sea kayaking or simply enjoy swimming or sunbathing in the emerald waters. Cocktails will be served during sunset, followed by dinner and overnight accommodations on board.

Accommodations: Onboard Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5 - Ha Long Bay

After breakfast, transfer to your day trip boat with private crew and cruise to the bay's remote areas. Enjoy swimming on quiet beaches, visiting water tunnels, fishing villages and kayaking. Lunch served on board. Return to the Halong Ginger Junk for the evening enjoying the dinner and sunset.

Accommodations: Onboard Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6 - Halong-Hanoi- Train

Greet the day with a morning Tai Chi exercise with an opportunity to view sunrise over Halong Bay. After breakfast, you will continue to explore the bay and its many karst islands. After disembarking you will return to Hanoi in time to catch your overnight train to Sapa.

Accommodations: Victoria Overnight Express Train – Private Sleeper. Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7 Train - Trekking Excursion

Arriving at Lao Cai in the morning we will enjoy views over the Red River toward China. From Lao Cai the road winds up the terraced hillsides to Sapa. Built in the early 1920s as a French hill station, Sapa village has rested peacefully in isolation since the end of World War 2, and has only recently opened up to foreign travelers. The region with is rugged and exotic beauty is stunning. Today we journey through the market and leave the busy town behind to visit Cat Village where we begin our hike through terraced rice paddies. Here we enjoy spectacular scenery while walking along a narrow river. The area is still covered by rain forest under the protection of Hoang Lien National Park. We then arrive in the Y Linh Ho village inhabited by Black Hmong. Here we enjoy a look around the traditional village before climbing to the road and our vehicles back to Sapa.

Accommodations: Victoria Hotel Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8 - Trekking Excursion

Today we travel to the village of Lao Cai. From Lao Cai we will trek through green terraced hill sides, bamboo forests, and Hmong, Dzay and Dzao villages.  Along the way you will stop in villages and meet local people. Reaching the village of Ta Van we continue to Giang Ta Chai village and meet our jeep to head back to Sapa for the evening.

Accommodations: Victoria Hotel Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9 - Sapa-Hanoi

Full day to explore Sapa on your own. In the evening transfer to the train station for your overnight journey back to Hanoi.

Accommodations: Victoria Overnight Express Train – Private Sleeper Breakfast

Day 10 - Hanoi-Hoa Lu-Hanoi

Arriving in Hanoi you will be met by a local guide and transfer to your hotel the remainder of the day is free to explore and enjoy this lovely city. Alternatively you may join a bike tour to Hoa Lu (included in trip costs), the site of Vietnam's first capital under the Dinh Dynasty (980-1009). Here we begin our bike ride through the countryside passing dramatic limestone cliffs rising from green rice paddies to reach Tam Coc, where we take a sampan (small canoe) on the river through rice paddies to the grottoes of the sacred Tam Coc Caves. In the late afternoon return to Hanoi for your final night in Vietnam.

Accommodations: Hilton Hanoi Opera (Deluxe) Sofitel Metropole (Luxury) Breakfast, Lunch

Day 11 - Depart Vietnam

After breakfast transfer to airport. Breakfast

Extensions throughout Vietnam, Indochina and all of Asia available.