North Vietnam Heritage Tour for Families

What to expect on this itinerary
Hanoi captures the range of cultural influences that shine throughout Northern Vietnam, Mai Chau shares tasteful vistas of the luscious countryside, and Bai Tu Long Bay offers an emerald waterscape that is off the beaten path. These are but a few of the enchanting destinations that you and your family will appreciate during your fun-filled excursion across the unspoiled expanse of Northern Vietnam. We have tailor-made this tour to cater to families of all ages, ensuring that every experience is as enthralling as it is educational. Capture lifelong moments together on this 14-day excursion through Northern Vietnam as you celebrate the alluring Vietnamese culture and bucolic environmental sights.
Customizable Itinerary
Hanoi – Where French Influence Stands the Test of Time
Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi oozes cultural highlights and offers endless educational experiences, which are set amidst a cityscape that is ablaze with spirit. The streets, which stretch outwards in all directions, cover its broad borders, and among them, you will immerse yourselves in its ever-present vivacity. From sunup to sundown, street-side vendors flicker with verve, and you will negotiate your way through their colorful exhibits and fragrant food stalls as you begin to acclimatize to your surroundings. In the evening, after you have experienced your first taste of exquisite traditional Vietnamese cuisine, you will retreat to your luxurious 5-star accommodation that overlooks the effervescent expanse of Hanoi.
You will be embraced by pleasant chaos the following morning in an authentic Vietnamese market where wafts of delightful delicacies and aromas of freshly squeezed juices will awaken your senses. With bellies full of sumptuous treats, you will escape the hustle to Hanoi’s quaint Old Quarter, which is a humble destination of French-colonial influence that offers a glimpse into ancient traditions that remain prevalent to this day. Ngoc Son Temple is flanked by the peaceful waters of Hoan Kiem Lake, and its 18th-century design still holds up as one of the most endearing sights within the Old Quarter. An elaborate wooden bridge provides access over the lake to this pagoda that houses time-honored artifacts of Vietnam’s past. The bright scarlet doors will welcome your family, and the history will unravel itself from the pagoda’s decorated walls and striking statues that will beckon you to take photos. Old Quarter’s charm will continue to radiate from the neo-Gothic walls of its Notre Dame-inspired, Roman Catholic Church. Outside of the church, you will witness its imposing twin bell towers, and inside, you will marvel at vivid stained-glass murals in addition to its meticulous altar. You will marvel at all of this while uncovering the dramatic French-Vietnamese heritage that leads to the construction of spiritual buildings such as this church.
You will be spoiled for choice the following morning with a collection of world-class French cafes in the heart of Hanoi, where award-winning chefs have a flair for the finer aspects of Vietnamese cuisine. You will then lose yourselves in the phenomenal fusion flavors as you watch your chef curate a delicious meal from the comfort of your charming table while connecting with one another about the magical moments that you have shared so far.
What's Included:
Ninh Binh – Verdant Fields, Golden Paddies, and Emerald Mountains
Mai Chau – Hilltop Meals with the Hmong People
Sapa – Entrancing Treks across the Tonkinese Alps
Bai Tu Long Bay – Explore a Waterscape of Grand Natural Design
Hoi An – A Distinct Destination of Diverse Cultural Influence
Trip Highlights
- Indulge in a visit Hanoi’s Old Quarter to discover the city’s prominent French influence at pivotal landmarks such as Ngoc Son Temple and the Notre Dame-inspired Roman Catholic Church
- Delight in the phenomenal flavors of Vietnamese fusion cuisine at an award-winning restaurant in Hanoi
- Explore the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex UNESCO World Heritage Site and witness the ornate pagodas within archaic rock formations for which the site is famous
- Experience being welcomed into the home of a traditional Hmong family at the ethnic Xa Linh Village that is perched atop the verdant peaks of Mai Chau
- Encounter the simplistic beauty of Sapa as you venture to the renowned Silver Waterfalls and traverse the golden rice paddies of the region
- Embark on a cruise that showcases the unspoiled splendor of Bai Tu Long Bay and captures the surreal waterscape in all its majesty
- Immerse yourselves in the cultural diversity of Hoi An as you tour the ethereal Assembly Hall of the Chaozhou Chinese Congregation and Japanese Covered Bridge
Starting Price
$11,900 per person (excluding international flights)
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
Verified Traveler Reviews
Based on 348 reviews
We travelled to Siem Reap, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. At each stop our guide was there to meet us and each one was very knowledgable about the area,culture and history, able to provide very personal perspective on the areas. The hotels we stayed at were boutique style hotels all centrally located with great service and staff. The trip was effortless as our travel agency thought of everything and it all went very smoothly.
Thank you to our travel agency for a very enjoyable and interesting trip. You tailored the perfect trip for us!
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From the start to the finish, this travel agency did a marvelous job in helping us set up our 19 day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in Feb. - March 2018. The four of us, two couples, had lots of ideas and questions about the trip. Our representative was wonderful. I told her what we were thinking of, our budget, what we wanted to see and where our focus was and she devised an itinerary that hit all the objectives of our trip. We did a bunch of tweaking and sending questions and concerns over time and she answered all very promptly and made sure that what we wanted in the trip was fulfilled. When I told her we wanted to up-grade our hotels, she handled all the changes without any problems. She phoned several times to make sure all was going well with our planning and that we were happy with what she had set up for us.
Our guides were fabulous. They did everything and more to make sure we had the experiences we wanted. If they thought that what was supposed to happen that day wasn't what they would recommend, ie., eating at certain food markets, etc., they pointed us in another direction. They took into account some of the physical limitations of several of us and made adjustments accordingly. They were friendly, helpful, caring and fun. At several points in our journey we had some requests for things that weren't in the itinerary and they made sure that those requests were fulfilled. We couldn't have asked for better service. More that once we asked where we could buy a certain thing and they went out of their way to find the store where it could be procured, even after the tour for the day was done and they were off their time with us. Wonderful service. All of our drivers were excellent, friendly and helpful. They always had bottles of cold water for us when we returned to the vans, which was much appreciated.
Our hotels were perfect. The hotel in Hanoi, our private boat in Ha Long Bay and the staff on board, the hotel in Hue, the boutique hotel in Hoi An, where we had a wonderful 2 day rest period to enjoy the beach and relax, the resort in Saigon, which was luxury at it's best, and the hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia were the perfect places to relax, rest and explore after our days of seeing the sights. They all had wonderful breakfasts and the staff of all of them were friendly, helpful and informative when we needed some advice.
They also made getting our visas easy and painless, and arranged our internal flights and the flight to Cambodia with no problems.
I highly recommend this travel company for any trip you are planning to Vietnam. Their service was outstanding and we have no complaints about anything they booked, recommended or suggested.
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My wife and I just returned from a 3-week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia organized by the travel company. We had used a company referred by Zicasso for a trip to Argentina in 2018 and were curious to see if we would be as satisfied after this trip as we had been after that one. Suffice it to say, we were not disappointed! This company did a terrific job in organizing our trip, securing comfortable, welcoming and well-located accommodations, setting us up with incredible guides with terrific local knowledge and very good English (we're from the US), arranging all our in-country flights and planning some extremely engaging and memorable outings and adventures.
While I can't be sure, I think they also dialed up the weather - we only experienced 1 day of light precipitation in 19 days in the country! They ensured we spent time in the North (Hanoi, Ninh Binh and Lan Ha Bay), Central (Hue and Hoi An), and South (Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta) parts of Vietnam and the temples (Siem Reap) in Cambodia. They also arranged an extensive array of food experiences and venues and provided many other memorable personal encounters with locals throughout Vietnam.
Without fail, every day revealed many interesting aspects of the culture and history of Vietnam and Cambodia. Our contact at the company was always responsive to our inquiries and requests - both before we left the US and while we were on our trip - and took time to meet with us personally in Ho Chi Minh City. We were happy to be able to express our appreciation for his efforts in designing such a personalized adventure. HIGHLY recommended.
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My husband and I decided on a custom trip to Indochina to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. As an avid traveler I always prefer to do my own planning, but dealing with the logistics of covering 4 countries in 24 days where there are 3 alphabets I was unable to read did not sound overly appealing. I compared 4 travel agencies in both the U.S. and Asia. Having utilized Zicasso once before, I selected one of their recommendations as the best fit. Our travel specialist, who is the founder and co-owner of his company, was a newcomer to Zicasso. He was professional, thorough, and accommodating in designing our customized journey. From our initial phone conversation to the extensive emails I sent, our trip evolved over 6 months of planning. Throughout the process, our agent responded promptly to countless questions and truly listened to my input and needs.
We requested a fairly fast-paced trip with some downtime at the end to relax. We wanted to have a variety of hands-on activities and authentic cultural experiences with an opportunity to get off the beaten path and away from crowds of tourists. Although I had done extensive research on my own, our agent offered many additional suggestions tailor made to enhance our travel. He was open to and appreciative of honest feedback (even during the trip), always striving to provide the best possible travel experience. Our vacation took us to Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre (along the Mekong), Hoi An, Ninh Binh, Hanoi, and Bai Tu Long Bay. The trip included 6 internal flights, a 2-night cruise, 4-5 star hotels, 3 food tours, 2 shows, expedited visa service, private guides and drivers, and all entrance fees and activities. Food, when included, was abundant and delicious. All hotels were excellent and beautifully appointed.
There were a few glitches during our journey. Since I had worked as a tour guide myself, having enthusiastic and engaging guides was a top priority for me. We had fabulous guides in Luang Prabang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi- guides whose knowledge, passion, and personalities made their culture come to life. Several others, however, did not measure up, and this was a huge disappointment. Since the company is based in Vietnam, I wondered how much control they had over guides selected in other countries. Another problem we encountered is that, after a flight delay, there was no official to meet us at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City for expedited visa service. We contacted our travel specialist in Hanoi who tried his best to help us, but we still spent over 2 hours getting through the process. As an apology, he upgraded our hotel room in Hanoi for 3 nights and treated us to a luxurious dinner. Sometimes there are unforeseen hiccups while traveling and we were most grateful for this kind gesture.
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We booked a three-week trip to Vietnam with a side trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the Angkor temple complex. We are three 60-something women who had never been to Southeast Asia before. Before we left, our travel company patiently helped us customize our trip, down to the last details, providing great advice along the way. Our trip started in Hanoi, and our guide was there at the airport to pick us up and take us to our hotel, even though it took longer than we expected to get our visas. The hotel they booked for us on the south shore of Hoan Kiem Lake, was lovely and it turned out to be a terrific location. Throughout the trip, which included stops in Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City, we felt well taken care of, with great hotels throughout. And our guides were flexible enough to change our itineraries on the fly. For example, one of my companions fell and injured her leg in a market in Hoi An. We asked if we could rearrange the itinerary to accommodate a trip to a hospital clinic, and they happily obliged. And later they modified the schedule for my friend, so she could skip some of the more strenuous activities.
The trip itself was wonderful. We experienced the markets, the organic gardens, the temples and pagodas, the waterways and the food that makes Vietnam so unique and wonderful. All of our local guides were so helpful and willing to put up with our eccentricities.
The only glitch we had on the trip was when we arrived at the Siem Reap airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It turned out we did not have tickets on the flight. We called our travel company and immediately got a call back -- we would be met at the airport by a guide with tickets for the next flight out, and in the meantime he would take us to a lovely nearby hotel and buy us lunch. He also offered to get us a room if we wanted to shower or change clothes, but we just stayed in the restaurant overlooking the lovely swimming pool and sipped our mojitos, courtesy of of the company.
Also I should mention the value. Zicasso connected us with three travel agents who submitted proposals. This company was the only one that really understood our budget parameters and what we wanted to do within the budget. We felt the price was quite reasonable and were very happy with our trip.
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