Central Vietnam Tour: A Cultural Odyssey From Hue To Hoi An

Morning
After breakfast, you will explore Hue UNESCO World Heritage Site. With the help of your private guide and driver, you will get to see some of Hue’s important historical sights.

Visits:

• Take a cyclo (rickshaw) ride through the ‘Old City’ to Tinh Tam Lakewhere the Emperors used to come to relax.
• From the lake, proceed to the ancient and atmosphericwalled Citadel which contains the former Imperial Palace
• Hue Royal Antiquities Museum houses a fine collection of antique pieces belonging to the royal family.
• The impressive tomb of Emperor Minh Mang or Emperor Khai Dinh.

Today you will visit a local Buddhist Pagoda where you will be treated a delicious vegetarian lunch cooked and served by the nuns. Take the opportunity to learn about the religion Buddhism or just get to know your friendly hosts.

Afternoon
Embark on a dragon boat ride on the romantically named Perfume River. During the boat cruise, you will stop to visit the iconic Thien Mu Pagoda – Hue’s most famous religious site. Explore the pagoda’s landscaped gardens, the seven-storey octagonal tower and watch the monks chanting.

The tour comes to an end with a visit to Truc Chi Garden, the crafting bamboo paper art workshop. You will have a chance to meet one of the students there and be treated to hands-on experience to learn how to use the etching technique with bamboo pulp to create artworks.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon where the remainder of the day is at your leisure.

Overnight in Hue.

Morning
After breakfast, depart Hue, you will drive south to Da Nang and Hoi An for four hours along the coast. Today you will enjoy one of the most scenic drives over Hai Van Pass (Sea Cloudy Pass). From the summit, you can enjoy the spectacular view of the coastline and Da Nang city below.

Arrive in Da Nang you will pause to visit the Marble Mountain, Cham Museum and the white sandy 20-mile stretch of My Khe Beach which was home to American GIs during the war.

Continue to drive and arrive in Hoi An around midday. Check into your boutique resort, just a stone’s throw from the old town.

 Afternoon
Spend the remainder of the day at your leisure. Enjoy the facilities of the resort or stroll around the Old town. You will find authentic Vietnamese culture, with paper lanterns lining the streets and delectable riverside restaurants.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Morning
The whole morning is at your leisure. Enjoy late breakfast and the comforts of your hotel.

 Afternoon
Your tour guide will pick you up and take you to the Ancient Quarter of Hoi An, where you will embark on a walking tour visiting the major attractions such as Chua Ong Pagoda, Tan Ky Ancient House, Fujian Assembly Hall, and the Japanese Covered Bridge.

Continue to visit the Precious Heritage Museum, home to the permanent exhibition of Réhahn’s Precious Heritage Collection. While transporting you to the furthest reaches of Vietnam, the collection will unveil the rich cultural tapestry of the ethnic tribes

The highlight of the day is the visit to the Reaching Out Tea House, a welcome little oasis of calm in the busy, vibrant Old quarter, owned and operated by the mute and deaf people. Here you will be treated with delicious cakes and incredible tea in the Eastern style.

Move on to the house of a lantern craftsman. There, you can observe the lantern craftsman’s technique before hands-on work through each stage of lantern-making under the guidance of the enthusiastic craftsmen: from bending it into the frame, cutting cloth, gluing, to completing lanterns. Before this trip concludes, you will have your own lantern created by your own hands.

Now, it’s time for your Hoi An street food discovery tour. With your guide, you will weave in and out the tiny alleyways, get to chow down with the locals at stalls you’d never discover on your own. Every day at 4 pm, Hoi An’s streets filled with a myriad of street food carts, stalls, and vendors. The street food tour is a great introduction for you to enjoy a few of the Hoi An specialties cooked up by the locals, to introduce you to the faces behind the stock pots and to teach you how the Hoi An locals deal with those condiment trays!

Overnight in Hoi An.

Morning
After an early breakfast, your private guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to My Son Sanctuary – lies in a geological basin surrounded by a ring of mountains, about an hour inland from Hoi An. The indigenous Cham tribes chose this easily defendable location to build the capital of their empire, which grew steadily between the 4th and 13th centuries. Used as a military base by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, My Son was heavily bombed, but many ruins remain standing. In 1999, UNESCO designated My Son a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Upon arrival, you will enjoy a walking tour for two hours around this historic complex. Learn about the original building techniques applied during construction and the traditional materials that were used, such as timber, brick, and stone. You will also look out for the numerous craters that were left here by American bombs from the war in the 1960s and 70s.

After exploring the ruins, you will have a chance to watch the traditional Apsara Dance beside the historic temples. The ladies will give a dance demonstration to the sounds of panpipes and drums, wearing colorful traditional costumes and cone-shaped hats.

Back to your hotel in Hoi An. Stop en route to visit a rice paper workshop to test your culinary skills and learn how to make a delicious local snack. You will then sit back and enjoy your creations with a cup of Vietnamese coffee and engage in a friendly chat with our hosts about the rural way of life here.

Afternoon
Free time at leisure. There’s so much to do in this paradise: explore the local market and try it’s street food (try Lao Cau, Mi Quang and White Rose Dumpling), get some tailoring done within 24 hours, join a hands-on cooking class.

The beautiful beach of An Bang is only 5km away from the Ancient Town. You can ride a bicycle there for a swim and relax.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Departure Flight: Guest’s own tickets

Your private car will take care of you on a private transfer to Da Nang International Airport, where you board your flight home or travel on to more adventures; we will help you with the planning.