Vietnam Central Highlights (IPV45)

Arrive at Danang International Airport, collect your luggage and process through custom. Your private tour guide and driver from Indochina Pioneer will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/customs area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel in Hoi An downtown for check-in.

The rest of the day will be free at your leisure until the welcome dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Note: For the Vietnamese Visa on Arrival, please make sure you have 2 passports sized 4 cm x 6 cm photos and $25 for the stamping fee.

Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: (_/_/Welcome Dinner)

After breakfast, you will meet your tour guide and embark on a walking tour through Hoi An Ancient town visiting the major attractions, such as Hoi An Museum, Ancient Houses, Assembly Hall with Chinese influence, handicraft workshops, and the Japanese Covered Bridge.

Move on to the house of a lantern craftsman. There, you can observe the lantern craftsman’s technique before hands-on work through each stage of lantern-making under the guidance of the enthusiastic craftsmen: from bending it into the frame, cutting cloth, gluing, to completing lanterns. Finally, you will have your own lantern created by your own hands. This is the perfect souvenir for you to show off your craftsmanship upon your return home.

The rest of the day will be yours to explore at your leisure. Hoi An has an abundance of tailors who can produce a custom suit within 24 hours or less, at very reasonable prices.

Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: (B/L/_)

After being collected from your hotel, a short bicycle competency test will be given (if you can not cycle, you can sit on the car)

The tour will start by cycling along level ground to the Thu Bon River to visit a local fishing village.

Ride along country lanes at a peaceful pace viewing local life and pause to see farmers toiling in their rice fields using centuries of farming practices. Peddle your way through palm forests, across bridges, fields of water buffalo…

Take a short break in a local family at Cam Thanh Village before enjoying the 1-hour ride on Traditional Basket Boat (round boat) in the Water Coconut Palm Forest. Learn how to sail the basket boat and spend your time to catch fishes and “purple crabs” in the Canal.

Continue to ride your bike to Tra Que Organic Vegetable Village, where a large variety of vegetables is produced for the local community. At the village, you will be shown the environmentally sustainable practices which the local villagers have used for centuries and is still being used extensively today.

After some farming practices, head to a family at the local village to enjoy a foot massage and the traditional herbal foot dip. Enjoy lunch at a restaurant in the village and then ride back to the hotel. The balance of the day will be at leisure to relax or continue your exploration of Hoi An.

Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: (B/L/_)

After breakfast, your private guide and driver will collect you from your hotel and transfer to Ba Na Hills. You will make a quick stop at the Red Beach, where the French first landed in Da Nang in 1858.

Continue to drive until you arrive at the Cable car station at the foot of Ba Na Mountain. Enjoy the first leg Cable car, which achieves two Guinness World Records in 2009, the longest non-stop cable car (5,042m) and the highest non-stop cable car (1,292m). Sitting in the cabin, in mid-air, looking upon the endless tree line of the forests, bring you with spectacular views of the lush jungle and fairly waterfalls along the way. Experience pristine ecological systems of the Ba Na Mountains will leave you with a sense of unforeseeable discovery.

Get off the cable car to visit the Le Jardin, old wineries remains of French Villas and Ling Ung Pagoda with 27m high Buddha statue. Then leave the Le Jardin for the second cable car station to visit the top of the mountain and see the remains of old villas. Conquer the Peak of Chua Mountain at the height of 1,487m. View the whole Da Nang city under the cluster of white clouds.

Continue to visit the trail of Dreaming Stream, Rainbow Waterfall, the Suspension Bridge, Golden Valley, and the ruined Opera House.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you will be transferred for a three-hour journey to Hue. You will spend the night in a traditional garden house located in a large orchard on the banks of the Perfume River. Tonight you will enjoy a home-cooked meal using ingredients straight from the garden.

Overnight in a local homestay
Meals: (B/L/_)

After breakfast, transfer to the Wharf to embark on a dragon boat trip on the Perfume River. During the cruise, you will visit the Thien Mu Pagoda with its characteristic seven-tiered tower. You will also see the Austin car which took Monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon where he famously set himself on fire in 1963 as a dramatic protest against the unfair treatment of Buddhists by the Diem regime.

Continue your day with a drive to the outskirt to visit the final resting place – so-called the King tomb of Tu Duc. After transfer to a Buddhist Monastery for lunch. Experience a fantastic traditional meal at this peaceful retreat and have the chance to interact with the nuns to learn more about Buddhism and gain a unique insight into their daily lives.

In the afternoon you will visit the Hue Royal Complex, former home to the Nguyen Dynasty, the last Monarchy of Vietnam from 1802 – 1945. Explore the ancient and atmospheric walled Citadel which contains the former Imperial Palace and the Forbidden Purple City.

End your day with a visit to Truc Chi Garden, the crafting bamboo paper art workshop. You will have a chance to meet one of the students there and be treated to a hands on experience to learn how to use the etching technique with bamboo pulp to create artworks After that, you will return to the homestay for the second night.

Overnight in a local homestay
Meals: (B/L/_)

Your private transfer greets you at the hotel after breakfast and escorts you to Hue Airport where you board departure flight or travel on to more adventures, we will help you with the planning.

Meals: (B/_/_)