This jam-packed 9-day tour covers the length of Vietnam, from south to north, encompassing some of its most beautiful scenery and historical interesting cities. Travel at a leisurely pace by canal boat, rowing boat, junk and cyclo to experience the beauty and variety of the natural landscape transporting you through fruit plantations, stalagmite caves and picturesque creeks to imperial citadels, presidential palaces and ancient ruins, the Highlights Tour is perhaps the most comprehensive travel experience on offer anywhere in Vietnam.

In Brief:

Day 1 : Hochiminh arrival
Day 2 : Hochiminh city tour
Day 3 : Hochiminh - My Tho - Ben Tre
Day 4 : Hochiminh - Danang - Hoi An
Day 5 : Hoi An - Hue
Day 6 : Hue city tour - Hanoi
Day 7 : Ha noi city tour
Day  8 : Hanoi - Halong
Day 9 : Hanoi and depature
 
Detailed itinerary:

Day 1 : Hochiminh city and arrival ( D )

Arrive at Tan San Nhat airport. Welcome by Vietnam TripAdvisor’s guide and driver. Transfer to your hotel. Take an orientation tour in the afternoon (if time permits). Welcome dinner. Overnight at  hotel in Ho Chi Minh city.

Day 2 : Hochiminh city tour ( B , L , D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Start a sightseeing tour to the Reunification Palace, which was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam until end of the war in April 1975, and some French colonial structures including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Central Post Office. Tour of Chinatown and Thien Hau & Quan Am pagodas. After seeing the Emperor Jade Pagoda and the War Remnants Museum, we end the city tour with Ben Thanh market where anything and everything is for sale. Dinner at a restaurant. Overnight in HCMC.

Day 3 : Hochiminh city - My Tho - Ben Tre ( B ,L ,D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Pick up at hotel and transfer to My Tho. Take the experience boat through Bao Dinh natural canal and see the stilt houses and the fruit plantation along the canal sides. Visit the My Tho wholesale fruit market. Proceed to the Tortoise island. Lunch served in the heart of the orchard. Enjoy a boat ride through the Tan Thach natural canal in Ben Tre, cruising under the shadows of the water coconut trees. Visit a family business which epitomizes the idyllic rural lifestyle. After trekking through the fruit plantation in Thoi Son island, enjoy a rowing boat ride on the creeks before returning to My Tho. Road trip back to Ho Chi Minh city. Dinner  at a restaurant and overnight at  in HCMC.

Day 4 : Hochiminh city - Danang - Hoi An ( B, L , D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Tan San Nhat airport from where you will board flight  to Danang. Vietnam TripAdvisor’s guide and car pick you up and transfer to your hotel in Hoi An. In the afternoon, visit the Japanese Covered Bridge, the Pottery Museum, Tan Ky old house, the Cantonese congregation, the silk street of Hoi An, the temples and pagodas built in Chinese style. Dinner in late of afternoon. Overnight  in Hoi An.

Day 5 : Hoi An - Hue ( B , L , D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for Hue via Danang, visit the Marble mountain, the Cham museum. Stop for photos at the Hai Van pass, Lang co beach. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit Visit Dong Ba market, the Imperial Citadel from where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945, and the ruins of the Purple Forbidden City. Enjoy the night boat trip enlivened by a performance of Hue folks songs.Dinner and overnight   in Hue.

Day 6 : Hue city tour - Hanoi ( B , L ,D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Take the morning boat trip to visit the royal tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, Thien Mu pagoda and mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang, in a setting of gardens and lakes. Lunch at local restaurant. Transfer to airport for boarding flight to Hanoi . Pick up at Noi Bai airport by Vietnam TripAdvisor’s guide and car, transfer to your hotel in the Old Quarter. Welcome dinner including Hanoi's speciality. Overnight  in Hanoi.

Day 7 : Ha noi city tour ( B , L ,D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Visit Ho Chi Minh Complex, containing Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh's house on stilts and the one Pillar pagoda. Continue with the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, Hoan Kiem lake, Ngoc Son temple, Tran Quoc pagoda and Quan Thanh temple. Cyclo ride around the old quarter streets from Hang Dau to Hang Gai. Dinner at a restaurant in the Old Quarter. Overnight  in Hanoi.

Day  8 : Hanoi - Halong ( B ,L , D )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart for Halong via the Red River Delta. Arrive in Ha Long city and board the junk. A seafood lunch will be served on board while you are enjoying a four-hour cruise on the bay to visit the Thien Cung cave (The cave of the heavenly - famous for its stalagmites and stalactites) which has been open to public since 1998. Visitors can then admire the newly-discovered DAU GO grotto (where wooden stakes were set deep inside the cave prior to a battle with an invading Mongol army). Boat ride back to Ha Long city. Road trip back to Hanoi. Dinner and overnight at  in Hanoi.

Day 9 : Hanoi and depature ( B )
 
Breakfast at the hotel. Free until transfer to Noi Bai airport for departure.

VietnamTripAdvisor can arrange additional customized trips for you if the above itinerary does not match your expectations.

Trip Included :

• Air conditioner car/van for pick up, transfer
• Sightseeing fees as per program
• English speaking tour guide
• Meals as indicated in the program (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch; D = Dinner)
• Private/ shared boat trips
• Internal flights: Ho Chi Minh city - Danang; Hue - Hanoi (economy class by Vietnam Airlines)
• Hotel accommodation based on Double/Twin share
• Purified water and wet towel

Trip Excluded :

• Vietnamese entry visa fee
• Travel insurance
• Other meals not mentioned in the program
• Personal costs & tips