Full Package - Hanoi

Arrival at Hanoi airport by 12:00. Pick up from Airport and transfer to hotel for check in (check in time is from 14:00, earlier check in subject to availability). Accommodation in hotel in Hanoi. Overnight: Hanoi

In the morning time, our guide will pick you up from your hotel to begin exploring Hanoi City, starting with Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Hanoi, built in the 6th century on Golden Fish Island in West Lake. From there you'll visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex, seeing the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh and the two houses where he lived and worked from 1954 to 1969, then continue to the One Pillar Pagoda, dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. Visitors should dress modestly, covering shoulders to knees, when visiting the mausoleum, temples, and pagodas; note that the mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays, and for about two months each year (15 June–15 August) for maintenance, though the surrounding area stays open for photos. The morning wraps up with a visit to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to learn about the country's 54 ethnic groups, with the Women's Museum visited instead on Mondays when the Ethnology Museum is closed. Around noon, you'll stop for lunch at a local restaurant, enjoying an eight-dish spread of Vietnamese cuisine. In the afternoon, the tour continues to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, founded in the 11th century, then on to Hoa Lo Prison Museum, once used by French colonists to hold political prisoners and later by North Vietnam to hold American POWs, who nicknamed it the "Hanoi Hilton." The tour ends in the late afternoon with a transfer back to your hotel.

The day opens with a comfortable 120km shuttle bus ride out of Hanoi, your guide meeting you at the hotel and a rest stop breaking up the drive through green countryside. Later in the morning you explore Hoa Lu Ancient Citadel and its Dinh King Temple, which dates back to the 17th century. Come lunchtime, you settle in at our restaurant for a meal of local specialties. The early afternoon is spent on the water: a sampan owned and rowed by locals glides along the Ngo Dong river past karst hills, rice fields and quiet villages, slipping through the caves of Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. Later you arrive at Mua Cave for a rewarding trek to the top of Ngoa Long Mountain and its spectacular view across the rice valley, before the limousine bus takes you back to Hanoi. In the evening you are dropped off at your hotel, where the trip ends.

You are free at leisure until time to check out and then transfer you to the airport for your flight.