13-Day 12-Night Vietnam and Cambodia Tour

Visit Ba Dinh Square where Vietnam’s independence was declared in 1945

See the fascinating Museum of Ethnography, a research center, and a public museum where the main ethnic groups in Vietnam create exhibits.

Visit the One-Pillar Pagoda, a pagoda that rests on a single stone pillar, like a lotus flower, the Buddhist symbol of purity, which King Ly Thai built To in 1049 as a thank you for his wife who gave him a son

Later in the day, we will visit the Temple of Literature dedicated to Confucius.

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Hanoi

Pickup at 08:00 from your hotel to travel to Halong Bay.

At 12:00 noon, you board the cruise, check in & enjoy a welcome drink while your cabin will be signed.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to admire thousands of islands and islets with magnificent caves and grottoes the inside the islands, admires sparkling stalactites and stalagmites like gems, and listen to the legends of the Dragons and the land and seascape in the area.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner onboard

Overnight onboard in Ha Long bay

The day will start with sailing through Halong Bay to Hon Dau Island, to the caves of Luon, Bai Tu Long, and Bai Tho. Halong Bay includes hundreds of limestone islands, named after their shape, as is the case with Banana Island or Turtle Island, but many have not yet been explored and named. After the cruise finishes, we return to the port, from where we will go back to Hanoi for a flight to Siem Reap

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch on the cruise

Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap

Visit Angkor Wat – the temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing

We continue to

• The South Gate (with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk), the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century)
• Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avalokitesvara)
• The Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace, and the Terrace of the Leper King.
• Ta Prohm, one of the area’s most beautiful temples

Late afternoon, you will enjoy a Remork ride (Tuktuk) around the city

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap

In the morning we will take a one-hour cruise on Tonle Sap Lake, one of the world’s ecological wonders, to discover fishermen’s lake life.

If time permits, we will visit the “School of Artisans” of Angkor, with wood and stone carvers and the picturesque local market.

We take a private vehicle to the capital city of Cambodia – Phnom Penh. On the way, we will have a chance to visit the ancient Naga Bridge. We also see the stone carving workshop at Santuk district as well as a quick visit to the spider market

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant.

Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh

This morning we will visit the Independence Monument. From here we enjoy a cyclo ride to the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda.

Afternoon, we visit the National Museum, also called Musee des Beaux-Arts. A French archaeologist and painter, Georges Groslier, designed it in Khmer style in 1917.

Then, stop by the Russian Market.

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh

Visit the Toul Sleng Prison Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek-both grim reminders of Cambodia’s bloody past under Pol Pot.

It is almost inconceivable to confront the nature of true evil here in this gentle land, but the Buddhist memorial at Choeung Ek commemorates the 1.7 million victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime.

After lunch, we will go to the pier and take a speed boat to Chau Doc, Vietnam

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Chau Doc

Hit Chau Doc floating market and a floating fish farm where you can study how to row hundreds of thousands of fish in the cage inside the water’s surface and how the local Mekong people do their business at the floating fish farm.

Next, visit the Cham minority village – an Islamic minority of people in Vietnam.

After lunch, we tour Ba Chua Xu Temple, located at the top of the Sam mountain

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Chau Doc

Visit the Tra Su Cajuput Jungle (planted in the 80s).

Settle on a rowing sampan (about half an hour) to watch birds (seasonal) and enjoy the most beautiful flooded forest in Vietnam as well as SE Asia.

Take a 500-meter walk to the 25-meter observation post to enjoy the fascinating view over the mountain in the area, the expanses of the cajuput forest, and the white dots of flying storks.

Afternoon, continue driving to Can Tho

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant.

Overnight at a hotel in Can Tho

Early morning, wake up and start the tour of the Cai Rang floating market – one of the biggest authentic floating markets in the world. After that, back to the hotel, have breakfast, and check out. Then, we drive to Ben Tre

The first stop will be at a brick kiln where you will see how bricks are produced in the traditional Vietnamese style.

A walking tour (maybe a bike or lambro ride) will take you through traditional villages, during which you will be able to admire splendid vegetable gardens that will give you a picture as real as possible of the everyday life of the locals.

Then, driving to Saigon

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Saigon

The first stop is Cu Chi Tunnels, start discovering the famous Tunnels, which were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and the Americans, the tunnels, entirely hand-dug

It formed a highly intricate network of interlinked multilevel passageways at times stretched as far as the Cambodian border and totaling over 120 km in length.

In the afternoon, enjoy a short sightseeing tour of Ho Chi Minh City: outside The Hundred Years Red Cathedral (Notre Dame Cathedral), The Old Post Office, and the Reunification Palace, a symbol of the old Government of Saigon before 1975

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a famous local restaurant

Overnight at a hotel in Saigon

After breakfast, it is your free time for individual sightseeing and activities until transfer time to Tan Son Nhat Airport for the departure flight.

Meals: Breakfast at the hotel