Vietnam and Cambodia – 15-day startling family adventure

Kickstart your new day with tasty foods for better stamina and more energy. A daily hot breakfast is prepared and served at the hotel’s restaurant.

At 8:30, meet up with your tour guide in the lobby for a full-day city tour of Hanoi. On this tour, you will explore many ancient architectures, delectable cuisine, and picturesque natural landscapes.

The first attraction is Ba Dinh Square, where Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence, declaring the birth of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. To learn more about Vietnamese history, you will visit some of the architecture in this area, such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Uncle Ho’s stilt house, and the one-pillar pagoda. Next, you take a short drive to the outskirts of Hanoi to visit the fascinating Museum of Ethnology. From the outside, you will be attracted by the presentation and layout, from the form to the displayed content, which is very scientific and logical. It involves grasping the cultural colors of each ethnic group.

Lunchtime is coming! You will enjoy Chả Cá Lã Vọng, the perfect combination of fresh noodles, grilled fish, sweet and sour sauce, and fresh vegetables, known as the Hanoian specialty since 1871. Following Lunch, you visit Hidden Gem Coffee Shop, 95% of the items in the shop are recycled furniture to protect the environment. A cup of traditional Vietnamese coffee, especially coffee with eggs, is highly recommended there.

Continue to visit the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam, famous for its beautiful architecture, and provide further information about the Vietnamese education system. Another exciting activity awaits you! Our guide and driver will take you to Long Bien Bridge to admire the panorama river view. While walking on the 120-year-old bridge, your tour guide will tell you some stories about history, Red River Delta culture, and local daily life; the walking tour also includes a discovery of Banana Island right at the foot of the bridge.

Embark on a fun cyclo to explore 36 streets in Hanoi Old Quarter. While swaying on a Cyclo, you can enjoy the cool air, admire the Old French-style villas, observe locals’ activities, and listen to the sounds of vehicles. All create a unique experience in the journey to Vietnam.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Ha Noi Bun Cha street food

After breakfast, your family departs for Sapa, following the Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway. You will have a chance to contemplate the beauty of the northwest mountains in that terraced fields are sparkling in sunlight or dim in thick fog. Have a short break for 30 minutes, then continue the trip to Sapa. At noon, you are dropped off in the lobby of your selected hotel.

A 40-minute drive takes you to Tram Ton Pass at a height of 2047 meters above sea level (the highest pass in Vietnam) where great views are offered of the surrounding mountains and lush forests of the Hoang Lien National Park. From there, you will trek for 30 minutes through the forest. Along the way, you have many chances to see wildflowers. Trekking along the stream, you will arrive at the Love Waterfall. It is the best place for relaxing in Sa Pa. Then, return to Tram Ton and drive back to Sa Pa.

Overnight in Sapa.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Sa Pa Hoang Lien Son National Park waterfall

This morning, you leave Sapa for a 30-minute, winding road transfer to Ban Khoang Valley. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Hoang Lien Mountain Range along the way, also known as the Tonkinese Alps.

As you get closer to Ban Khoang village, you can see the picturesque view of the valley from above. Take some great photos of this impressive and beautiful landscape. Then, stop for an easy walk to visit a village of the Red Dao ethnic group at Ban Khoang. The local women there are very skilled in making their embroidery and their beautiful traditional costumes. After hundreds of years in the mountains, the people here still maintain their culture of farming rice with buffalo and maintaining a self-sufficient system.

Depart from Ban Khoang Valley for an 8-km road transfer to Ta Giang Phinh Valley and enjoy a local lunch there. This afternoon, take a leisurely walk through the charming Ta Giang Phinh Valley. Walk on the village path, which winds down the impressive valley, home to the Blue Hmong ethnic minority people. Visit some local houses to see some handicraft workshops and observe villagers working in the fields tending their crops with buffalos.

Appropriate footwear must be worn on treks in Sapa. Note that if conditions are wet, programs will have some slight changes. Mid-late afternoon, transfer back to Sapa town, and the remainder of the afternoon and evening are at leisure.

Overnight in Sapa.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Sapa Hau Thao Village

Early morning depart with the guide for a half-day trekking tour to Hang Da and Sau Chua Villages, just about 8 km east of Sapa, where the Black Hmong people have been living their traditional and unique way of life despite the recent changes and effects caused by the fast development and tourism boom in Sapa town. Enjoy walking with the guide along the quiet, narrow pathways through the countryside and past the scattered, modest houses of the Black Hmong people. Please keep in mind that the trekking route can be adjusted depending on energy levels, fitness, and weather conditions.

Return to the hotel to check out by noon, and then there is some time to spend at leisure for lunch and last-minute exploration of Sapa town. By mid-afternoon, you will drive back to Hanoi.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Sapa Mountain View in spring

The scenery of Halong Bay, where thousands of limestone islands jut out of the emerald sea in bizarre shapes, is truly an iconic image for Vietnam. An overnight boat trip is the best way to enjoy this Vietnamese must-see.

9:00 Our driver will see you in the lobby of the hotel. Today, our driver will send you to Halong Bay for an amazing 2D1N cruise trip.

12:15: Boarding our boat at Tuan Chau Port – a welcome drink, a cruise briefing, and safety instructions.

13:15 – 14:00: Passengers enjoy the deluxe Vietnamese set-menu lunch. Massage service is available after lunch and throughout the cruise. Please book in advance with your Cruise Manager.

14:00 – 16:00: Cruise through Halong Bay, passing the most beautiful and quiet areas, including

Incense Burner, Dog Stone Islet, Fighting Cock, Finger Islet.

16:00: Arrive at Surprise Cave – one of the most spectacular and largest grottoes in Halong Bay. The mouth of the grotto is reached by ascending about a hundred stone steps.

17:30: Depart and sail for about 30 minutes to anchor overnight.

18:30 – 19:00: Attend the Fruit and Vegetable Carving Lesson led by our Head Chef. During the lesson, the chef will show the guests how to decorate and make traditional Vietnamese food by carving fruits and vegetables.

19:30: Dinner is served.

20:45 Evening activities. Board games like cards or Parcheesi are available, as well as massage service (available throughout the cruise). Also, everyone can try their luck at squid fishing on the boat with help from the crew.

21.00 – 23.00 Happy Hour! Buy one drink – get one free (wine by the bottle excluded).

23.00 End of Program for Day 1.

Note: Each cruise operates a different itinerary, and onboard facilities may vary. Our travel consultant will be very happy to discuss each option with you.

Overnight cruise on the bay.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Ha Long Bay kayaking

06.30: Coffee, tea, and breakfast pastries are served in the dining room.

06.45: Enjoy a Tai Chi lesson on the sundeck (lasting about 30 minutes).

07.45–09.00: Guests are transferred by tender to Titov Island. About one hour is spent on the island, allowing time to climb to the peak for a breathtaking 360-degree view of the bay (there is also an expansive viewing deck halfway up). After the climb, there is time left to relax on the beach and have a swim.

09.00 Upon returning to the boat, guests will have 30 minutes to freshen up and finish packing. Please get all of your things from the cabins and leave heavy luggage outside the cabins. The staff will take it directly to the pier.

09.30 Enjoy a full breakfast in the dining room. Bills are settled after breakfast. As we get close to the pier, you can relax on the sundeck or in the dining room and watch the bay.

11.00 Arrive at Tuan Chau Port. Your private driver is waiting for you at the dock to send you back to Noi Bai Airport.

Today, you will take a 1-hour and 20-minute flight from Hanoi to Da Nang. Upon arrival at Da Nang Airport, your private tour guide and driver will meet you and transfer you to your hotel in Hoi An to check in. The rest of the day will be yours to explore at your leisure.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch.

Ha Long Bay Landscape

Your walking tour will include visits to a private house where members of the same family have lived continuously for centuries in a traditional setting and to one of the family chapels built by prominent merchants or official families as centers for ancestor worship. Continue to the Sa Huynh Museum, which contains exhibitions from the earliest period of Hoi An’s history. Finally, continue to the famous Japanese Covered Bridge Pagoda, first constructed in 1593 by the Japanese community of Hoi An to link the town with the Chinese quarters across the stream.

After that, you are going to join a lantern-making class. Colored lanterns are a symbol of Hoi An, where locals believe they bring happiness, luck, and wealth. Bring home a souvenir with a difference, a lantern that you made yourself – after this fascinating class. Choose from a wealth of different silks, then work with your instructor to craft a bamboo frame and create your lantern, which will fold away neatly into your luggage. Today, lunch and dinner are at your own expense. Spend the whole afternoon enjoying the beach.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meals: Breakfast

Hoi An and Fukien essembly hall

Good morning! Start a day full of energy and joy with hot dishes and a cup of strong coffee. Your guide will be waiting at your hotel lobby at 8:00 am. He will give you a brief of this morning’s activities, help you check your bike’s conditions, put you on a helmet and start the cycling tour right after.

After 10 minutes of pedaling, you will exit the ancient town area and immerse yourself in the poetic scenery of the countryside. While cycling, you can observe the daily activities of locals. Before your eyes is a lush countryside scene with red brick houses, rivers winding around the villages, coconut trees reflecting on the lake, shrimp ponds, green vegetable fields, farmers working in their fields, and buffaloes grazing. You stop at the gate of Cam Thanh village. Take a short break before enjoying a one-hour ride on a traditional wooden boat to explore the water coconut palm forest.

Saying goodbye to Cam Thanh villagers, you get on the bike and pedal to Tra Que – the organic vegetable village. There, you enjoy the rustic village scene and get numerous authentic experiences with farming activities. Visit Kum Quat restaurant and join a cooking class with Thành & his wife. With enthusiastic guidance from the chef, you will cook some traditional Vietnamese dishes. Then, you set the table and enjoy lunch together.

In the early afternoon, you cycle back to the hotel and relax by the swimming pool or at the beach.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Hoi An Cam Thanh Village

You spend the whole morning relaxing at the beach. Check out at 12:00, and you will be taken to the Da Nang airport for a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s commercial center with a bustling population of 10 million.

A foodie night out on the town by Vespa.

This Saigon night tour is part night excursion, part street food adventure. Experience Saigon nightlife the way locals do, all from the back of a vintage Vespa scooter.

To start this Saigon night tour, enjoy drinks at our Vespa-themed café, Café Zoom, to watch “as the world goes by” (as said in the Lonely Planet guidebook). Throughout the night, try a variety of food and drinks at 2 local restaurants, including samplings of Saigon’s best authentic local food. Zoom past the famous must-see sights of Ho Chi Minh City while in bustling traffic. We’ll also go to a Vietnamese-style coffee shop with a special live music bar, and then wrap up the evening at an exciting music bar where the new generation of Vietnamese unwind and flaunt their unique styles.

Guests ride pillion behind our drivers to enjoy and experience the Vietnamese nightlife with friends. This tour includes free-flowing drinks and all-you-can-eat, so come with an appetite!

Saigon Night Tour Highlights: All-you-can-eat & free-flow drinks, cocktails, & snacks at Cafe Zoom, a local seafood restaurant, local Vietnamese pancake restaurant, while zooming by famous Saigon sights, a live music cafe with a live music bar.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.

Ho Chi Minh city Bui Vien street

08:00 Pick up at the hotel, leave the busiest city, and start the trip to Coco Riverside Lodge in Vinh Long Province. Upon arrival, you will meet a representative, and you will be led to the lodge along a countryside path. After just a short walk, you will be treated to a welcome drink. Check-in and have lunch at the lodge’s restaurant.

After a chance to rest, you select bicycles for a cycling tour around village paths, leading us to the home of Mr. Cong where you watch how he makes pop rice and learn about the blend of traditional and modern agricultural methods that sustains the local village. He will reveal the secret of making “rice pop.” This unique and nutritious food will become a gift for locals or children in school. Your guide explains how the animals are raised and shows you the way they collect “biogas” to make free and sustainable cooking food.

Continuing to ride on quiet village roads, we will pass by a duck farm if we get a chance, green rice paddies, sedge fields, and small villages. Along the way, you visit one of the dragonfruit or orange fruit plantations and taste it directly in the garden. This is a relaxing time with plenty of chances to capture the picturesque Asian sunset scenes. Enjoy the beautiful sunset before returning to the lodge on your bicycles.

After you shower and refresh, you start to walk to the home of a neighbor who fought during the Vietnam War and be shared with the story, the experience of “poon” lights, and traditional music. At the end of the show, we walk back holding traditional torches made of dried coconut leaves.

You are the chef! A traditional cooking class with Vietnamese pancakes made by you is a great learning experience that means you can take a little of Vietnam home with you. Dinner is served at the lodge’s restaurant.

Overnight at Coco Riverside Lodge.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Can Tho bridge in the sunset

Breakfast, loaded boats are already heading to local squatting markets and transporting goods such as coconuts from one factory to the next, crossing local ferries to visit the beautiful Cao Dai temple. You also had a chance to see these factories. Situated alongside the river, these are small coconut-processing operations. Once the coconut has been shelled, the coconut fibers are removed from the husk to make rope, which in turn is used to weave rugs. You can watch the whole manufacturing process in a short period of time. Most of the work is professionally done by hand. The buyers are mostly foreign companies.

If time permits, take part in some activities at the lodge, such as harvesting some coconut leaves and weaving themyourself. These leaves are a key building material in the Mekong Delta, as they are used to build the walls and roofs of houses. The local people will show you not only how they use these leaves but also how to make the “poon” sticks that illuminated the previous night.

Check out and transfer back to Tan Son Nhat International Airport. In the late afternoon, you take a flight to Siem Reap, the home of Angkor.

Hello Cambodia! Upon arrival, be greeted by the guide and transferred to the hotel. Please look for the Asia Pathfinders welcome sign in the arrivals hall.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Local poeple harvest coconut

You hop on a Tuk Tuk and ride to Angkor Thom which was the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII. Following the occupation of Angkor by the Chams from 1177 to 1181, the new king decided to build an impregnable fortress at the heart of his empire. You begin to visit Bayon Temple. At the exact center of Angkor Thom, this is an eccentric expression of the creative genius and inflated ego of Cambodia’s most celebrated king. From there, you walk to Baphuon, one of the most beautiful temples at Angkor, dating from the reign of Uditayavarman 1 in the 11th century.

You continue to visit the Terrace of the Leper King. Along the Terrace of Elephants, was originally used as a viewing gallery for the king to preside over parades, performances, and traditional sports. You continue , live up to Ta Prohm’s “Tomb Raider” fame. Ta Prohm has been abandoned to the elements, a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to the dramas of human history. Your journey out to the mother of all temples, Angkor Wat, believed to be the world’s largest religious building, is the perfect fusion of symbolism and symmetry and a source of pride and strength for all Khmers.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Siem Reap Angkor Wat

Wake up to fresh mountain air and enjoy breakfast before transferring back towards Siem Reap.

Start your day with a transfer to the shores of Tonle Sap Lake, where you will have the opportunity to learn about life on the lake. Tonlé Sap is South East Asia’s largest freshwater lake, with its size varying greatly depending on the season, as it swells to about four times its size during the wet season.

Kayak across the Tonle Sap floodplain, over paddy fields between trees, and into the stilted village of Kampong Kleang, where the houses tower 8 meters above in the dry season, but when the lake is full, you can look onto the balconies. We paddled through the village and ended up at Mrs. Hong’s house, where we had a late lunch on her porch with a view of the pagoda.

Available from August to March Suitable for families with children Ages 6 and up, in double kayaks with life jackets and a motorboat. Note: If the water level is too low, we will go to an alternate location that is equally enjoyable – No worries, it will be super fun!

Afterward, and if time allows, pay a visit to the early temples of the Roluos Group. Roluos is the site of an ancient center of Khmer civilization known as Hariharalaya. It was the first town built by the Angkorian kings in the 8th and 9th centuries and consists of three main temples: Bakong, Lolei, and Preah Ko. With its rice paddies and sugar palm trees, the countryside around the city is very typical of Cambodia.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Siem Reap floating villages Tonle Sap

After breakfast and a leisurely morning on your own, you will check out by midday, and your private driver will pick you up and take you to the Siem Reap Airport for your departure flight home.

This is the end of your Vietnam and Cambodia tour!

Meals: Breakfast.

Siem Reap at night