Beautiful of Northern Vietnam

Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport and transfer to your hotel in the centre of Hanoi (standard check-in 14:00). Free at leisure — explore the Old Quarter's beer streets, bars and boutique shops in the evening. Overnight in Hanoi.

After breakfast, drive around 4 hours to Ha Long Bay with a short rest stop en route. Check in at the jetty, board your cruise for lunch while sailing among the bay's limestone karsts, and spend the afternoon on included visits or activities before the boat anchors for the night. Dinner is served on board.

Watch the sunrise over Ha Long Bay from the cruise deck, enjoy breakfast/brunch while cruising back to port, then disembark and transfer to Hanoi. In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, Ba Dinh Square, Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple, then take a cyclo tour of the Old Quarter before returning to the hotel.

Meet your guide and drive around 100km south to Ninh Binh. Visit Hoa Lu, the 10th-century first capital of Vietnam, and the cliffside Bich Dong Pagoda. In the afternoon, take a sampan cruise along the Hoang Long River through Tam Coc, an area of karst mountains and rice paddies often called 'Ha Long Bay on land', passing through three limestone caves. Transfer back to Hanoi in the evening.