Vietnam small group tour
| country: | Vietnam |
| trip type: | A small group adventure |
| departures: | 2010: 27 Mar, 29 Mar, 1 Apr, 3 Apr, 5 Apr, 8 May, 26 Jun, 3 Jul, 5 Jul, 9 Aug, 13 Sep, 20 Sep, 27 Sep, 25 Oct, 22 Nov, 20 Dec, 27 Dec 2011: 3 Jan, 10 Jan, 17 Jan, 31 Jan, 14 Feb, 28 Feb, 14 Mar, 28 Mar, 11 Apr |
| price: | From £995 (14 days) excluding flights. Domestic flights £110. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
introduction to Vietnam small group tour
Starting in busy, bright and bustling Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), we visit Reunification Palace and the fascinating Notre Dame Cathedral. We also crawl through the Cu Chi Tunnels and journey down the Mekong Delta, passing colourful floating markets. On a small island in the delta, we spend a night in a homestay with a local family - a real highlight. From the laid-back beach town of Nha Trang, we explore the offshore islands by boat and snorkel amongst the colourful coral in the warm waters of the South China Sea. We also explore ancient Hoi An and the charming northern capital, Hanoi, before heading to spectacular Halong Bay, where the rugged limestone pinnacles and grottoes combine to make up one of the world's most recognisable landscapes.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Saigon and transfer to hotel. |
| Day 2: | City tour in the morning, free afternoon. |
| Day 3-4: | Travel to Mekong Delta and explore by boat. Stay overnight on river island. Return to Saigon. |
| Day 5-6: | Visit Cu Chi Tunnels. Fly to Nha Trang. Free day to relax in Nha Trang. |
| Day 7: | Boat cruise and snorkel around Nha Trang's offshore islands. Overnight train to Danang. |
| Day 8: | Arrive Danang and travel to Hoi An, visiting Marble Mountain and China Beach. Evening cooking class. |
| Day 9: | Morning tour of ancient Hoi An, free afternoon. |
| Day 10-11: | Fly to Hanoi. Evening water puppet show. Tour of Hanoi, free afternoon. |
| Day 12: | Travel to Halong Bay and explore by boat. Kayaking and swimming. Overnight on boat. |
| Day 13: | Cruise the bay before returning to Hanoi. |
| Day 14: | Trip ends in Hanoi this morning. |
highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2007 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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We are involved in assisting a number of projects that have a positive contribution to the welfare of communities, wildlife or environment around the globe. One of these causes is KOTO, which stands for 'Know One, Teach One' and is based around a restaurant that was established to provide vocational training and experience in the hospitality industry to underprivileged youths. A highlight of this trip is enjoying lunch at the KOTO restaurant in Hanoi.
When you travel with us, you support our Community Trust, which provides funds for local community projects and initiatives that promote responsible and sustainable tourism development in the destinations in which we operate. First and foremost, but not exclusively, the Trust supports projects and initiatives that advance education and employment within the tourism and hospitality industry. The Trust operates on a not-for-profit basis, with every cent of funds donated by us, our staff and our travellers, going to the nominated projects. As part of our responsible travel policy we also employ local leaders and actively avoid international hotel chains, preferring to give our patronage to authentic, centrally-located and owner-managed establishments whenever possible. Our locally born and raised leaders are highly qualified and will be a great part of your holiday because of their intimate knowledge of the sights, culture and customs, history and language of their homeland. The maximum group size on all of our adventures is 16 passengers. Travelling in small groups ensures we make significantly less impact on the natural environment, as well as breaking down many of the communication barriers presented by a larger group. In 2009, we aim to neutralise all major emissions created by most of our trips, so they can be offered as the best green alternative available. We have conducted detailed analysis to assess the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the ground component of our adventure holidays. This means that the greenhouse gases emitted by transport and accommodation during most of our trips will be balanced and reinvested in projects that offer Gold Standard (or similar) Carbon Credits, and are aimed at ‘neutralising’ your contribution to greenhouse gases. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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