14-Day Vietnam Discovery Tour: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Hoi An & Mekong
Overview
Destination: All Vietnam: North- Central- South
Duration: 11 - 15 days
Travel Style: Cultural & Heritage
Theme: Couple
Tour Highlights
Value of the package
This 14-day Vietnam discovery tour travels the length of the country in one private journey, from Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Lan Ha Bay and Sapa in the north, through Hoi An and Da Nang in the centre, to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta in the south. Two domestic flights link the three regions, and your guide and driver meet you at each airport, so two weeks are enough to see the whole of Vietnam at an even pace.
- North, centre and south in two weeks. Seven days in the north, four in central Vietnam and three in the south, with flights for the long distances and an overnight sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sapa to save a day on the road.
- Northern landscapes from the water. A sampan through the karst cliffs and cave tunnels of Trang An, then a night on La SEN of the Bay Cruise with kayaking, a sunset party and a rowing-boat visit to Dark & Bright Cave.
- Sapa from the summit and on foot. The cable car to Fansipan, 3,143 m, a walk through Cat Cat Village, and an 8–10 km trek between the rice terraces of Lao Chai and Ta Van.
- Hoi An beyond the old town. An evening walk among the merchant houses and lanterns, then a basket boat in the Cam Thanh coconut forest, the gardens of Tra Que and a try at the potter’s wheel in Thanh Ha.
- Da Nang and a night by the beach. The Marble Mountains, the Lady Buddha at Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra and the Dragon Bridge, with a free afternoon at My Khe Beach.
- The south’s history and river life. The Cu Chi Tunnels, the Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum, then a boat trip on the Tien River and the canals of Ben Tre, with coconut candy, fruit orchards and don ca tai tu music.
Included in the package
- Airport pick-up and drop-off in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with your guide
- 12 nights’ accommodation – Hanoi (3 nights), Ninh Binh, La SEN of the Bay Cruise, Sapa, Hoi An (2 nights), Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City (3 nights) – plus 1 night on the overnight sleeper bus to Sapa
- 12 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 1 dinner, as listed day by day
- Private car and driver, sleeper bus ticket, cruise tender transfers, and the boats named in the itinerary
- Entrance fees and the activities in the itinerary, including the water puppet show, the Trang An sampan ride, the cruise programme, the Fansipan cable car, the Lao Chai – Ta Van trek, the Cam Thanh basket boat, the Thanh Ha pottery class, the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong boat trip
- Drinking water on tour days, travel insurance, VAT and service charges
Not included: international flights, domestic flights (Hanoi – Da Nang and Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam visa fee, meals not listed, personal expenses, and tips for your guide and driver.
Download the detailed day-by-day itinerary (PDF) and ask us for a price using the box on this page, on WhatsApp +84 345 827 501 or at booking@hynatravel.com. Your price depends on your travel dates, group size and hotel choice.
Itinerary
DAY 1: HANOI ARRIVAL – FREE & EASY
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide pickup
On arrival
Welcome to Vietnam. Your HYNA guide and driver are waiting in the arrival hall at Noi Bai International Airport, and the drive into the city takes about 45 minutes, across the Red River and into the tangle of the Old Quarter, where your hotel stands.
Evening
Check in, rest after the flight and take the rest of the day at your own pace. When you feel like stretching your legs, Hoan Kiem Lake is a short walk away: locals stroll its shore, scooters hum along the lanes around it, and the red Huc Bridge leads out to a small temple on the water. It is an easy first look at the capital.
DAY 2: HANOI FULL-DAY CITY TOUR
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 8:00 AM, and the day begins at Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where President Ho Chi Minh lies in state.
Walk on past the Presidential Palace, his simple stilt house and the lotus-shaped One Pillar Pagoda. The mausoleum opens in the morning and closes on Mondays, Fridays and during its yearly maintenance; on those days you see it from the square.
At West Lake, Tran Quoc, Hanoi’s oldest pagoda, raises its red brick tower above the water.
Then walk Train Street, where the railway runs a few steps from front doors and tiny cafés.
Midday
Lunch around midday is a Vietnamese meal at a local restaurant, full of fresh herbs and gentle northern flavours.
Afternoon
The Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 and home to Vietnam’s first university, is a calm world of shaded courtyards and stelae naming doctoral laureates.
In the Old Quarter, where each street once belonged to its own craft, watch daily life flow around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Evening
Around 5:00 PM, take your seats for a water puppet show, a folk art born in the rice fields of the Red River Delta, with puppets splashing across a pool stage to live music. You are back at your hotel by about 6:30 PM, and dinner is at your own arrangement.
DAY 3: HANOI TO NINH BINH NATURE DISCOVERY
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Overnight: Emeralda Resort Ninh Binh, Ninh Binh | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Check out after breakfast and meet your guide around 8:00 AM for the 2-hour drive south to Ninh Binh, where limestone peaks rise straight out of the rice fields. At the UNESCO-listed Trang An landscape, step into a small sampan and settle back as a local boatman rows you along quiet waterways. The boat slides between towering karst cliffs and through a series of low cave tunnels, so low in places that you duck your head, past small temples on the banks and water buffalo grazing in the paddies. The ride takes around 2–3 hours, and the only sounds are the oars and the birds.
Midday
Lunch around 1:00 PM is at a local restaurant in Ninh Binh.
Afternoon
After lunch, your guide and driver take you to your resort, where you check in around 2:30 PM. The rest of the afternoon is free to relax and watch the light change over the countryside.
DAY 4: NINH BINH TO HA LONG BAY: OVERNIGHT CRUISE
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Overnight: La SEN of the Bay Cruise, Lan Ha Bay | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Guide: Shared guide
Morning
Check out after breakfast and meet your driver around 7:30 AM for the drive from Ninh Binh to Tuan Chau Marina, about 3.5 hours by road.
Check in at the marina around 11:30 AM and transfer by tender to La SEN of the Bay Cruise, where the cruise guide takes care of you. A welcome drink is waiting, and you meet the captain and crew.
Midday
Lunch around 1:00 PM is served on board, with Vietnamese dishes and fresh seafood as the limestone islets slide past the windows.
Afternoon
Sail into Lan Ha Bay, a quieter neighbour of Ha Long Bay, where karst towers rise from emerald water. Paddle a kayak close to the cliffs or slip into the sea for a swim.
Evening
As the boat anchors for the night, join a spring roll cooking demonstration, then head up to the sundeck for the sunset party with local wine and fresh fruit, watching the peaks turn to silhouettes. After dinner, try squid fishing off the side of the boat, watch a film or relax at the bar, and fall asleep to the gentle movement of the water.
DAY 5: HA LONG BAY – HANOI – NIGHT TRANSFER TO SAPA
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Overnight: Overnight sleeper bus | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Shared guide
Early morning
Rise early to watch the sun come up over the bay, with coffee, tea and a light breakfast. Then explore Dark & Bright Cave and the islets around it by local rowing boat, drifting through a quiet corner of the bay where the only sound is the oar in the water.
Midday
Brunch is served around 10:00 AM as the cruise sails back towards the marina. Around midday, a tender takes you to Tuan Chau Marina for the drive back to Hanoi.
Afternoon
You are back in Hanoi around 3:00 PM, with time at leisure in the Old Quarter before your night journey.
Overnight
Your guide sees you off on the overnight sleeper bus to Sapa, which departs around 10:00 PM. Settle into your berth and sleep as the road climbs into the mountains; the bus reaches Sapa before dawn, and you can stay in your berth until around 6:00 AM.
DAY 6: SAPA MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION
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Overnight: Silk Path Grand Resort & Spa Sapa, Sapa | Meals: Lunch · Breakfast and dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Early morning
Step off the sleeper bus around 6:00 AM, when mist often still hangs over the valleys. Your guide meets you and takes you to the hotel to leave your luggage; breakfast in town is at your own arrangement.
Morning
Your guide meets you at the hotel around 8:30 AM. Ride the cable car towards Fansipan, the Roof of Indochina at 3,143 m, then climb the stone steps past pagodas and the Great Buddha statue to the summit. The Hoang Lien Son range rolls away on every side, and on some days you stand above the clouds.
Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant.
Afternoon
Walk down through Cat Cat, a Black H’Mong village at the foot of Fansipan, past wooden houses, terraced fields and weaving workshops where cloth is dyed in deep indigo, to a waterfall tumbling through the valley. Check in to your hotel around 4:30 PM and rest after a full day.
DAY 7: LAO CHAI – TA VAN TREK & RETURN TO HANOI
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Check out after breakfast and meet your guide around 8:30 AM for a short drive to the start of the trail in the Muong Hoa Valley. Over about 8–10 km, the path follows village tracks between rice terraces, bamboo groves and clear streams.
In Lao Chai you meet Black H’Mong families, and in Ta Van you reach the homes of the Giay people, each with their own dress, language and way of farming the slopes. Your guide keeps an easy pace, with plenty of stops to catch your breath and take photos.
Midday
Lunch around 12:30 PM is at a local restaurant in Ta Van village.
Afternoon
Your driver collects you in Ta Van for the drive back to Hanoi, about 5.5–6 hours along the expressway. You reach your hotel in Hanoi by about 8:00 PM.
DAY 8: FLY TO DA NANG – HOI AN ANCIENT TOWN
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Overnight: Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery, Hoi An | Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Half day guide
Morning
After breakfast, your guide accompanies you to Noi Bai International Airport for your domestic flight to Da Nang.
On arrival
Your HYNA guide and driver meet you at Da Nang International Airport and drive you south to your hotel in Hoi An, about 45 minutes away.
Afternoon
After time to settle in, your guide meets you at your hotel around 4:00 PM for a walk into the old town. Hoi An was once a busy trading port for merchants from China, Japan and Europe, and its UNESCO-listed lanes still hold their mustard-yellow merchant houses, carved Chinese assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge.
Evening
As dusk falls, silk lanterns glow along the Hoai River and their colours ripple on the water. You are back at your hotel by about 7:00 PM, with the evening free for dinner in town.
DAY 9: HOI AN COUNTRYSIDE EXPLORATION
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Overnight: Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery, Hoi An | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 8:00 AM. Climb into a round bamboo basket boat at the Cam Thanh coconut forest and glide between the water-coconut palms, the paddles dipping softly in the brown water. The boatmen show you how local fishermen cast their nets, and you can take the paddle and try to steer yourself, which is harder than it looks.
Continue to Tra Que, where farmers still grow fragrant herbs and greens by hand. Walk the neat garden beds, breathe in the scent of basil and mint, and see how the growers tend each row.
Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant.
Afternoon
Thanh Ha is a riverside pottery village where families have shaped clay by hand for generations. Watch the potters turn and smooth each piece, then sit at the wheel and try it yourself. You are back at your hotel by about 2:30 PM, with the rest of the afternoon free.
DAY 10: DA NANG CITY TOUR
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Overnight: Radisson Hotel Danang, Da Nang | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Check out after breakfast and drive north towards Da Nang with your guide around 8:30 AM. On the way, stop at the Marble Mountains, a cluster of limestone and marble hills hiding caves, pagodas and a viewpoint over the city and the coast.
Continue up the Son Tra Peninsula to Linh Ung Pagoda, where the tall white Lady Buddha statue looks out over the sea and the fishing boats in the bay.
Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant in the city.
Afternoon
After lunch, stop along the Han River to see the Dragon Bridge, the golden dragon that has become the symbol of modern Da Nang.
Check in to your hotel by My Khe Beach around 2:30 PM, with the rest of the day free for the sand and the sea.
DAY 11: DA NANG – FLIGHT TO HO CHI MINH CITY – FREE & EASY
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Overnight: Rex Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City | Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide for airport transfers
Morning
After breakfast, your guide accompanies you to Da Nang International Airport for your domestic flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
On arrival
Your HYNA guide and driver meet you at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and take you to your hotel in District 1. The rest of the day is at leisure. Nguyen Hue walking street, the Opera House and City Hall are all a few minutes’ walk away, a lively introduction to Vietnam’s largest city.
DAY 12: HO CHI MINH CITY TOUR & CU CHI TUNNELS
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Overnight: Rex Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 7:30 AM, and the city thins into farmland on the 1.5–2 hour drive northwest to Cu Chi. Beneath this quiet countryside lies a vast network of tunnels dug by hand and used during the Vietnam War. Your guide shows you the hidden entrances, the traps and the cramped command rooms, and you can lower yourself into a preserved section to feel how narrow and dark life underground really was.
Midday
Lunch around midday is at a local restaurant on your way back into the city.
Afternoon
Back in the city, begin at the Independence Palace, the former presidential palace and a landmark of the war’s end in 1975. Walk through the wide reception halls and down into the command bunker beneath them.
A few minutes away, the Saigon Central Post Office is one of the city’s finest colonial buildings, where people still buy stamps and send letters under its high arched ceiling.
The day closes at the War Remnants Museum, which tells the story of the war and its long shadow through photographs and exhibits that stay with you. You are back at your hotel by about 5:00 PM.
DAY 13: MEKONG DELTA EXPLORATION DAY TOUR
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Overnight: Rex Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 7:30 AM for the 1.5–2 hour drive to My Tho, as the city gives way to rice fields.
Board a wooden boat on the Tien River, one of the branches of the Mekong, and pass fishing boats and stilt houses before turning into the narrow canals of Ben Tre, the land of coconuts, shaded by water-coconut palms. At a family workshop, watch coconut candy being stirred and cut by hand, and sip honey tea.
Midday
Lunch around midday is a southern Vietnamese meal at a local restaurant.
Afternoon
Walk through a fruit orchard and taste whatever is in season, then sit down to listen to don ca tai tu, the southern folk music recognised by UNESCO, played and sung by local musicians. You are back at your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City by about 5:00 PM.
DAY 14: HO CHI MINH CITY DEPARTURE
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Overnight: — | Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide dropoff
Departure
Enjoy a last breakfast and some free time until your transfer. Your HYNA guide then accompanies you to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, about 30 minutes from the city centre, for your flight home. Thank you for travelling with HYNA. We hope Vietnam stays with you long after you leave.
Children Policy
Children under 5 years old Children from 5 to 9 years old Children 10 years old and above Charged at 100% of adult tour price Note: Children’s age is calculated based on the start date of the tour, not the booking date.
PRICE ON REQUEST
Your price depends on your travel dates, group size and hotel choice. Tell us your plans and we will send you a quote.
Meals: 12 breakfasts · 10 lunches · 1 dinner
Transport: Private car, domestic flights, overnight sleeper bus, cruise, cable car, sampan, basket boat, boat
Or email us at booking@hynatravel.com
All Reviews
Why HYNA's Travel?
Local Expert Team
A Vietnam-based team that plans every route on the ground and knows each region first-hand.
Honest & Transparent
Clear itineraries, clear inclusions and no hidden surprises, from your first message to your last day.
24/7 support
24/7 support throughout your journey.
Customized Itineraries
Every itinerary can be tailored to your travel dates, pace and interests.
Price and policy
Flexible cancellation policy.
FAQ
1. Does the tour price include airfare?
No. International and domestic flights are not included in our tour prices. Where a route uses a domestic flight, the itinerary shows it so you can plan your bookings.
2. Can you arrange vegetarian or other special meals?
Yes. Tell us about your dietary needs when you send your enquiry and we will arrange the included meals accordingly.
3. Can I change the itinerary?
Yes. Every itinerary can be tailored to your travel dates, pace and interests. Tell us what you would like to add, remove or swap when you ask for a price.
4. What is your cancellation policy?
Our cancellation policy is flexible, and the terms depend on your travel dates and the services booked. Ask us for the full terms before you book.
5. When is the best time to take this tour?
The weather in Vietnam differs a lot between the north, the centre and the south. The best months for this route are shown under "Best time to go" in the Trip facts on this page. Tell us your travel dates and we can suggest the best way to plan the route for that season.
6. Is travel insurance included?
Travel insurance during the tour is included, as listed under "Included in the package". We also recommend your own international travel insurance that covers medical care and flight changes.
7. Is airport pick-up included?
Yes. Your guide and driver meet you at the airport on the first day and take you to the airport for your departure on the last day, as shown in the itinerary.
8. What documents do I need to travel to Vietnam?
You need a passport valid for at least six months from your arrival date and a Vietnam visa or visa exemption, depending on your nationality. The Vietnam visa fee is not included in the tour price.
