Cooking Class Tour 8 days

Code: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, G = Guide  

Day 1: Arrival at Hanoi (D, G)

Upon arrival at Noi Bai airport, our guide will greet and accompany you to your hotel. Free time until you’ll be picked up to watch water puppet performance, a traditional art form closely connected with the long-standing spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. You’ll then be driven to a good local restaurant and enjoy a welcome dinner with us. Your overnight stay will be in Hanoi.

Day 2: Hanoi (B, L, G)

After breakfast, you’ll be picked up and transferred to the restaurant where you’ll learn cooking Vietnamese cuisine. It will be interesting for you to have chance to buy or bargain as a local people in the market. You’ll then come back the restaurant; your Vietnamese teacher will prepare and help you to cook your lunch. You could learn how to make some of special regional delicacies. After a half-day morning session, you would enjoy a delicious feast of the dishes you created, and get to take a copy of the recipes home with you. The rest day will be free in the bustling Old Quarter. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi/Ha Long (B, L, D, G)

Picked up at around 8.30 a.m, you’ll then depart for Ha Long Bay. Enjoy a 3 hour drive with a brief stopover at Hong Ngoc Embroidery workshop for refreshment and see different kinds of handicrafts skillfully made by disable people.

Arriving Ha Long Bay, you will go aboard and check in your cabin. Lunch will be served afterwards with a selection of seafood specialities. The boat will take you first to the famous World Heritage area where you can visit Amazing Cave and take a swim on a tranquil beach in Ha Long Bay. Then you are free, possibly for retiring to your cabin or having romantic walks on the boat side to enjoy the marvellous sunset. You?ll spend a night on boat.

Day 4: Ha Long/Hanoi (B, L, G)

It would be nice if you wake up to see sunrise and daylight filtering through the early morning mist and the towering rock formations. After western breakfast, you will venture into some of the sea level caves in a small sampan. You’ll then continue a leisurely cruise along Ha Long Bay and have lunch before returning to the habour. Our car will pick you up and drive back to Hanoi.

Day 5: Hanoi/Hue (B, G)

You will be free until our car arrive to transfer you to Noi Bai airport for the morning flight to Hue. On arrival, you’ll be picked up and driven to your hotel in the city centre. Free time at leisure after check-in procedure.

In the afternoon, our guide will show you around Hue. You will first visit the Imperial Citadel, that served as the powerful seat of Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945. Enjoy your shopping at the famous Dong Ba Market before transfer back to hotel. You’ll spend the night in Hue.

Day 6: Hue (B, L, G)

After breakfast, you will take a cruise along Perfume River to visit Hue’s best-known religious site, Thien Mu Pagoda. Our car will then take you to visit the imposing Minh Mang tomb, a striking example of classic Sino-Vietnamese architecture.

After lunch, a continuation to visit poetic Tu Duc Tomb. This tomb is idyllically set in a romantic scenery of mounts, lake and pine forest and considered as one of the most beautiful works of the Nguyen dynasty. Last but not least, you will visit elaborate Khai Dinh Tomb, which  is the result of the interminglement of many architectural trends: European and Asian, as well as ancient and modern.The last famous site in your programme will be Tu Hieu pagoda, which is one of the most famous pagodas in Hue. Your overnight stay will be in Hue.

Day 7: Hue (B, L, G)

In the morning, you’ll visit one of city’s “garden houses” in Hue. You’ll then learn to cook some traditional typical food in Hue, you’ll also prepare for your dinner. By the time you finish your cooking is the time to sit down for dinner in the pleasant surroundings and a comfortable atmosphere of another of the garden houses. You’ll spend the night in Hue.

Day 8: Hue/Hanoi (B, G)

Your time will be your own until your private car and driver arrives to take you to Phu Bai airport to take a flight back to Hanoi. You’ll transit for your international departure flight.

Prices include:

• Breakfast and accommodation in twin or double room.
• All pick up and transfer.
• Boats cruise as programme, enjoy a private cruise on traditional junk in Ha Long Bay.
• Travel by private, air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced driver.
• Return domestic flight ticket: Hanoi-Hue-Hanoi including airport taxes.
• Experienced English-speaking tour guide as indicated in the itinerary.
• Entry fees for all sightseeing as mentioned in the programme.
• Lunches and dinners, as specified, in the local restaurants
• Government Taxes.

Price do not include:

• International flight tickets and airport tax.
• Visas.
• Dinners except as specified.
• Drinks, gratuities and personal expenses.
• Insurance.

Hotel list for Five Star standard

• Hanoi: Sheraton Hotel (***** surrounded by lush gardens, sweeping lawns, and tranquil courtyards, less than 10 minutes from downtown Hanoi, Deluxe room) or similar
• Ha Long: Golden Cruises (***** one of luxury cruises in in Ha Long Bay, Luxury cabin) or similar
• Hue: Saigon Morin Hotel (****+ good location, next to Huong river, Colonial Deluxe room) or similar

Hotel list for Four Star standard

• Hanoi: Sunway Hotel (**** comfortable boutique hotel 15 minute’s walk from the city centre, Superior room) or similar
• Ha Long: Ha Long Sails (**** very good quality wooden boats) or similar
• Hue: Huong Giang Hotel (**** on the bank of the Perfume River, Deluxe Room) or similar

Hotel list for Three Star standard

• Hanoi: La Belle Vie Hotel (*** located in the city centre, Superior Room) or similar
• Ha Long: Ha Long Sails (**** very good quality wooden boats) or similar
• Hue: Mondial Hotel (*** city centre with outdoor swimming pool, Superior Room) or similar

Hotel list for Two Star standard

• Hanoi: Nam Hai hotel (** in the Old Quarter, Standard Room) or similar
• Ha Long: Alova Cruise (*** good quality wooden boats) or similar
• Hue: DMZ Hotel (** in city centre, Standard Room) or similar