Escape to Vietnam

Arrive at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, where our representative meets and greets you. Private transfer to your pre-booked hotel in Hanoi. The rest of the day is free to rest or explore the Old Quarter at your own pace. Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, you are picked up from your Hanoi hotel and driven to Ninh Binh province. Visit Hoa Lu, the 10th-century royal capital of Vietnam, and the Dinh and Le King temples, with their history of the wars against China. Continue about 10 km to Tam Coc for lunch, then a roughly two-hour bamboo-boat ride — rowed by locals along the Hoang Long River — through three vast limestone caves, past fishing villages and the karst scenery Tam Coc is famous for. Drive back to your Hanoi hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, transfer to Ha Long harbour and board the day cruise — about five hours on the water, following the classic overnight-cruise route. Cruise past uninhabited islets and limestone outcrops — Cock Fighting, Thumb and others — with a Vietnamese lunch served on board. Visit the Surprising Cave (Sung Sot) for its stalactites and stalagmites, then kayak or take a bamboo boat at Luon Cave to explore the lagoon. Stop at Titop Island for the beach or a climb to Titop Peak for a panoramic view of the bay, followed by a sunset session on the upper deck with tea, wine, fruit and cake. Disembark and transfer back to Hanoi, with drop-off at your hotel. Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, you are picked up from your hotel for a half-day city tour. Visit the Temple of Literature — Vietnam’s first university, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius — with its five courtyards, gardens, the main temple and the stone-turtle stelae of the imperial-examination scholars. Continue to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, built by the French for political prisoners and later holding American POWs, who nicknamed it the "Hanoi Hilton". The rest of the day is free at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, check out from the hotel. Private transfer to Hanoi Airport for your onward flight.