Family adventure

— Our guarantees —

ARRIVAL IN HANOI  

• The driver and guide welcome you at the airport.
• You are driven to the hotel in the city center.
• An early check-in option in case you arrive before 2pm and want to check-in the room to refresh and rest for a while.
• End of the day at leisure.
• Feel free to ask the guide some good advices about where to eat and how to spend your time around the old quarter and the HoanKiem Lake before he leaves.

Fun Fact

Family is a very big thing in Vietnam. Often several generations live together under the same roof. Vietnam is a very young country with 25% of its population below 14 year-old, and you will notice than people really like and care for kids.

Night at The Palmy – Studio. http://thepalmyhotel.vn/

HANOI, VISIT AND AMUSEMENT (B/L/-)

• The day will be à la carte and depend on the rhythm your kids can take on.
• Start in the morning at 9am
• Select your choice of activities among:
• Visit the temple of literature.
• Explore the garden of the presidential palace.
• Go to the Reunification Park with its giant trees, lake and games for kids.
• Ride an electric cart around the West Lake.
• Take a cyclo-ride for about an hour.
• Stroll the old quarter with a market visit.
• In the mid-afternoon, visit a workshop at the house of a charming couple to learn how to make traditional paper mask. It is great fun for everybody and a nice souvenir to take home.

Fun Fact

There is a very nice ice cream shop at 11 Ly Thai to Street called KemTiAmo. You can ask your guide to pass by if you feel like an ice-cream break would be nice. You may also want to try a nuocdua, a coconut juice drunken straight from the fruit with a straw.

Night at The Palmy – Studio. http://thepalmyhotel.vn/

HANOI – MAI CHAU (B/L/D)

• The guide meets you in the lobby at 8am for departure.
• Head west to the valley of Mai Chau. It takes about 4 hours including a refreshments and legs stretching break on the way. Mai Chau is a circus surrounded by high limestone mountains and filled with rice fields.
• From the top of the last pass drive up, stop and see the whole valley dotted with hamlets of wooden houses on stilts. You are in a White Thai territory.
• Let the touristy spots behind and travel a bit farther in a remote sub-valley.
• Arrival at your small intimate lodge made of few bungalows and a swimming pool set in a green garden.
• Have lunch on-spot and eventually some time for rest.
• In the afternoon, go for a walk around the village, take some bicycles to see farther and/or spend some chilling time at the swimming pool.
• Take part in a cooking class and then eat the result of your work for dinner.

Fun fact

White Thai people compose one of the largest ethnic groups of Vietnam. They usually live in the valley and lowlands, rarely up in the mountains. They cultivate the land, live in wooden house on stilts and are recognize across the country for their great sense of hospitality. They share the same origins with people of Thailand.

Night at Mai Chau Villas – Superior (Double room with one extra bed). http://www.maichauvillas.info/

DAY 4

MAI CHAU (B/L/D)

• A full day to explore this beautiful sub-valley and its surroundings. The program is flexible.
• In the morning, drive about 15 kilometers on a small scenic road to the almost far end of the valley.
• You may stop en route at a bamboo chopstick production workshop. It is nice to see, workers are very friendly and you may take home some unused bamboo to make a nice vase at home.
• Reach a secluded village and meet a very nice family there. You have the possibility to go bike or walk around, see some nice terraced rice fields or to the river nearby.
• You can also help the family to prepare the lunch that you will have together.
• In the afternoon, walk a bit on flat single trails across local crops (peanuts, gourds, christophine, pumpkin…), with many “hellos” from locals and a nice, quaint rural atmosphere.
• Reach a small pier and jump on bamboo rafts. Paddle on the quiet stream for about 45 minutes and then walk a bit more to reach another village.
• Meet the family hosting you for dinner tonight.
• Bathrooms are available to refresh or if you want, you may pass by the lodge before, shower and enjoy swimming, before returning here for dinner.

Fun Fact

Bamboo trade is an important activity in the region. To transport bamboo from here to the coast where it is loaded on ships, locals found an efficient way. They build up giant bamboo rafts and travel for few days along the Ma River to the sea.

Night at Mai Chau Villas – Superior (Double room with one extra bed). http://www.maichauvillas.info/

DAY 5

MAI CHAU – HANOI (B/L/-)

• In the morning, go to the center of Mai Chau commune.
• Visit the market, where all kinds of goods are sold. Clothes, food, agricultural tools, most supplies for daily life can be found here.
• Then head to the hamlets nearby where tourism developed the most. This is a whole village where people sell crafts and textiles of North Vietnam. Take some free time there before lunch at a local home.
• In the afternoon, drive back to Hanoi for an arrival in the late afternoon.
• Evening at leisure.

Fun Fact

In the evening in Hanoi, many kids gather on the Ly Thai to place, just by the Hoan Kiem Lake to play some games and do some roller-skating. If you feel like going out, there is also a 4-D cinema in the Vincom Tower on Ba Trieu Street.

Night at The Palmy – Studio. http://thepalmyhotel.vn/

DAY 6

HANOI – HALONG BAY (B/L/D)

• The guide picks you up at 8 am for an immediate departure to the legendary Halong Bay.
• Drive across the Red River delta and reach the coast little before noon.
• Embark on a small wooden junk for a night cruise in the breathtaking seascape of Halong.
• Once on board, get your connecting cabins and make yourself cozy.
• You are served a delicious seafood-based buffet lunch, while the limestone rocks are setting up the décor.
• Reach a less traveled area in the afternoon and devote yourself to relaxation, swimming and eventually kayaking.
• The program is not fixed and depends on the time of the year and weather, but there might be some sandy beach on the menu if you wish it.
• End the day on the sundeck while the sun sets.
• Time for an aperitif or to attend a cooking demonstration before dinner.

Fun fact

An evening squid-fishing can sometimes be organized by the boat crew. It is generally a lot of fun for both kids and adults. Ask your butler on boat if this is possible on your evening onboard.

Night at Bhaya Legend 1 cabin. https://www.bhayacruises.com/

DAY 7

HALONG BAY – HANOI – HOI AN (BRUNCH/-/-)

• Cruising back to the pier, a brunch is served as you get closer to disembarkation.
• Early Tai Chi session is proposed, coffee and tea are served early if you wish to wake up at dawn to see the beautiful lights of sunrise.
• Visit a grotto or a floating village before starting your way back to the coast.
• Disembark and drive straight to Hanoi’s airport to catch a flight to Danang.
• You are welcomed in Danang.
• Transfer to the charming port town of Hoi An.
• Check-in your connecting rooms at a riverside resort in the heart of Hoi An.

Night at Vinh Hung Riverside Resort – Superior. http://www.vinhhungresort.com/

DAY 8 to DAY 10

HOI AN (B/-/-)

• Free days in Hoi An to enjoy quaint times by the pool of the resort.
• Go to the beach.
• Several mini-tours can be arranged as options for example organize cooking classes, boating or kayaking trips in the mangrove of Cam Thanh, cycling tours, snorkeling tours, etc.
• If you are interested in these, please let us know at the time you enquire about the tour.

Fun Fact

For the beach, head to An Bang, about 4km north of the town following Hai Ba Trung Street. You will find several restaurants and bars to chill out on the beach in a very relaxed atmosphere. Look for the H’mong Sisters Restaurant, the favorite one.

Night at Vinh Hung Riverside Resort – Superior. http://www.vinhhungresort.com/

HOI AN – HANOI (B/-/-)

• Enjoy a last morning at leisure
• A last chance to eat a wonderful Cao Lau noodles dish before you are picked you up in the early afternoon to drive you to Danang’s airport.
• You are welcomed in Hanoi by a driver (no guide).
• Transfer to your hotel in the city center.
• End of the day at leisure.

Fun fact

If you prefer, we can pick you up earlier and drop you at the big covered market of Danang. This is an interesting place to see and shop all the local specialties such as nougat, dried squid, cashew nuts, etc. Then you can have lunch somewhere on the seafront and then catch a taxi to the airport nearby.

Night at The Palmy – Studio. http://thepalmyhotel.vn/

DEPARTURE (B/-/-)

• Full day on your own until you are transferred to the airport for your departure flight.

Fun fact

Look for some various fair trade products at the Betterday shop on Xuan Dieu Street, number 114. Best place to buy tea and coffee for example if you look for original things to take home as gifts for friends and relatives.