Halong Bay is an astounding UNESCO World Heritage Site with nearly two thousand
picturesque limestone peaks—the calm waters wonderfully suited for kayaking close up to the
limestone formations that offer fantasy water landscapes of exploration. Large caves that served
as hidden bunkers for pirates, revolutionaries, and bandits can now be explored on foot and by
kayak, or you can simply laze on deck watching the mesmerizing scenery drift by. Experience the
highest-quality private tours on Halong Bay, excursions we have organized for over 25 years.
Placid Waters
Over 2,000 karst peaks tame the South China Sea, settling it into a glassy smooth surface —
perfect for beginning kayakers, swimming, and of course those who are sensitive to motion.
Family kayaking among Halong Bay's limestone towers.
Highest Quality Halong Charters
Only a small handful of boats plying the bay are of good quality, featuring elegant design,
spacious decks and cabins, delicious cuisine, and cruise farther out on the bay away from the
groups of standard tourist boats. We inspect these few Halong charters each season to ensure the
quality is maintained.
During your cruise dine and overnight on a clean, comfortable traditional wooden cruiser, one of the
finest boats on Halong Bay. Private cabins have lavatories and twin beds. Spacious areas above
deck and inside provide solitude when needed.
Attentive crew aboard a Halong Bay charter.
Lavish Dining
Fresh meals prepared by your on-board chef — catch of the day, seafood specialties, and
Vietnamese favorites, including banh xeo and pho. For breakfast, hearty plate-size omelettes,
piping hot soups, baguettes, jam, butter, and "depth charge" coffee. If your interest in
Vietnamese cuisine is deeper, enjoy hands-on cooking lessons with your chef and learn to fish with
local fisherfolk in their floating villages.
Fresh seafood dining on board.
Elegant Cabins
Charming cabins feature private lavatories and showers, air conditioning, comfortable beds, and
elegant woodwork throughout. We lease boats only of the highest quality, please view our current Halong Bay charters.
Elegant cabin aboard a Halong Bay luxury cruiser.
Halong Bay Activities
Cooking with your chef, learning the art of fruit and vegetable carving, kayaking, caving,
island hiking, visiting floating villages, exploring deserted beach coves, swimming, and snorkeling
round out the many activities on the bay.
Fishing with locals on Halong Bay.
Stunning Scenery
Halong Bay is one of the world's greatest geological sites, a place which has inspired generations
of Vietnamese artists and poets. The over two thousand karst towers scattered across the ocean
are a sight that will take your breath away. Our cruises will take you farther out into the more
beautiful and tranquil areas of the bay.
Cruising through Halong Bay's karst seascape.
Family & Honeymoon
Our specialty and our most popular trips are family and honeymoon trips on the bay. Our staff is
famously fun for children of all ages and for the perfect honeymoon, a private cruise on the bay
is an unforgettable experience of a lifetime with specially-planned dining and activities.
Private beach cove dining on Halong Bay.
Halong Bay Touring
Our private cruises of two to four days in length are of the highest quality yet as affordable as
many package tours. Our three-day tour is the perfect complement to a visit to North Vietnam — a
short three-hour drive from Hanoi. Meals and long-distance transport are on our "mother ships" —
spacious wooden cruisers equipped with comfortable suites, deck and dining rooms. Meals designed
by a culinary specialist and guides are abundant and delicious, highlighting local seafood cooked up
fresh. Vegetarians and those with shellfish allergies are easily accommodated.
Halong Bay Three-day Itinerary
Day1
Hanoi to Halong Bay via private car. Board your private junk, enjoying lunch as we motor out
onto the bay, pausing to sightsee in Hang Dau Go (Hiding the Timber Cave), the largest
grotto in the Halong area. In the afternoon, we'll escape the flotilla of other tourist
boats, escaping into our own private part of the bay for kayaking and a beautiful sunset over
Halong. After, a delicious seafood dinner, followed by drinks under the stars.
Day2
Full-day on the bay, exploring grottoes, coves, inland lagoons, floating villages, and beach
coves by kayak or smaller boat. Seafood lunch, dinner and overnight on board.
Day3
Halong Bay. After another picturesque sunrise, morning kayaking on the bay followed by
farewell lunch with crew before return to Halong port then to Hanoi by private car.
Tariff: Our private luxury Halong Bay cruises start at US$1,280 (inclusive of private boat and
round trip transfer from Hanoi in private car).
Kayaking on the bay is optional, but enables up-close access through karst into hidden lagoons
where no boat can go. We use imported one- and two-seat models that are perfect for beginners and
more experienced kayakers.
When to Go to Halong Bay
It is possible to visit Halong Bay year-round. Halong weather is typical for tropical coastal
climate, with two primary seasons: April to September, when weather is typically hot and humid,
and from October through March when drier and cooler.
Halong Bay Weather FAQs
The average temperature of Halong Bay is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.7 degrees Celsius).
Winter months (from mid-October through February) feature the best weather overall on
Halong Bay.
During summer months (May to September), tropical storms may alter the itineraries
depending on conditions.
Due to hundreds of islands acting as a barrier in the area, Halong is not much affected by
heavy storms and features calm, placid waters.
More About Halong Bay
EXPLORE VIETNAM TRIP IDEAS
View our unique trip itinerary ideas and contact us to begin planning your private custom trip.
Anyone who has traveled to Vietnam will mention three things that stood out most: the amazing people, the beautiful scenery — and especially Vietnam's delightful food and deep food culture. As Bourdain claimed “The Vietnamese are a skinny people obsessed with food.” We share that obsession, having organized the very first culinary trips of the country nearly 30 years ago.
Vietnam has firmly planted itself on the world's culinary stage and this private tour dives into its unique regional specialties, from Hanoi’s famous pho, royal cuisine of Hue, modern fusion of Hoi An, to legendary street food in the back alleys of Saigon. On this ultimate culinary adventure trip, enjoy these varieties while diving deeper, exploring farms, markets and kitchens, and food products producers as well as the most delightful cooking classes in the world.
If cooking were painting, Vietnam would have one of the world's most colorful palettes. The great diversity of its climate and terrain can produce almost anything which can be eaten. The Vietnamese themselves have no culinary inhibitions and are always willing to try something new. When you combine the two, nothing is ruled out.
Famous dishes such as pho and fresh spring rolls are but the tip of a gastronomic iceberg. In addition to a myriad of foods and preparations, there is a staggering number of sauces and dips limited only by the imagination of each cook. The picture of Vietnamese cuisine is vast and varied, always subject to innovation, and always vibrantly colorful.
Highlights
Street-side pho and bun cha tastings in Hanoi’s Old Quarter
Halong Bay cruise with on-board cooking among limestone karsts
Market tours, farm visits, and a traditional nuoc mam factory
Hands-on cooking: spring rolls, banh xeo, green papaya salad
Imperial Hue cuisine and Hoi An’s cao lao & white rose specialties
Michelin-minded fine dining alongside legendary street stalls in Saigon
Route Map
Tour Itinerary
Hanoi — Capital of Pho
Vietnam’s cultural capital is a walkable feast: tree-lined French boulevards, the thousand-year-old Old Quarter, and a northern kitchen shaped by Chinese influence and street-stall craft.
Private arrival, landmark hotel check-in, and a restorative first bowl of pho.
Private transfer from Noi Bai Airport and check-in at a landmark hotel such as the Metropole.
Optional herbal spa to shake off the flight, then a classic Hanoi pho on low plastic stools—our preferred cure for jet lag.
Evening orientation with your culinary host outlining markets, kitchens, and regional themes ahead.
Market foraging with a Hanoi culinary expert, cyclo Old Quarter loop, and kitchen time with a master of spice.
Morning market walk learning northern ingredients, herbs, and street-stall technique.
Cyclo ride through the Old Quarter with landmarks en route; lunch at a multi-generation favorite for cha ca.
Afternoon bia hoi pause, then a kitchen visit with a celebrated French-Vietnamese chef to sample dishes and talk spices and peppers.
Halong Bay — Cooking on the Water
Asia’s most striking bay: limestone towers, emerald water, floating villages—and a private cruise kitchen where Vietnam’s seafood and herbs meet the open deck.
Transfer to Halong Bay for an overnight cruise with kayaking, floating villages, and hands-on cooking with your on-board chef.
Board a private junk or boutique cruise and sail among karst towers away from the crowded routes.
Kayak into quiet lagoons and visit a floating village; join your chef for a spring-roll and seafood cooking session on deck.
Overnight on the bay under the stars; next day continue cruising before returning to Hanoi for your flight south to Hue.
Hue — Imperial Table
Sleepy Hue along the Perfume River remains Vietnam’s most tranquil city—and home to a refined royal kitchen still found in family courtyards and riverside bowls of bun bo Hue.
Flight to the Imperial Capital; citadel orientation and a riverside dinner of Hue specialties.
Arrive Hue and settle into a heritage riverside hotel.
Gentle exploration of the Imperial Citadel and Thien Mu Pagoda.
Dinner along the Perfume River featuring bun bo Hue and other central classics.
Countryside visit to Imperial tombs, optional dragon-boat return with banh xeo demo, and evening cooking in a royal-family home.
Morning visit to Tu Duc and Khai Dinh tombs amid lotus ponds and pine hills.
Hands-on evening session preparing Hue delicacies in a traditional family kitchen.
Hoi An — Market & Kitchen
The ancient port town everyone falls for: lantern-lit streets, dawn fish landings, cao lao, white rose dumplings, and some of Vietnam’s most joyful cooking schools.
Scenic transfer via the coast and Hai Van Pass; evening kitchen immersion in Hoi An.
Travel the central coast with lagoon and rice-paddy views, pausing for a seafood lunch.
Check into a river or beach resort, then stroll the old town before a shared kitchen dinner featuring cao lao and local specialties.
Pre-dawn fish market, rural villages, cao lao lunch, then a hands-on cook-off with local chefs.
Watch fishermen land the night’s catch, then explore town and countryside by foot or bicycle.
Market forage for ingredients and cook together—spring rolls, banh xeo, and regional dishes—before an evening celebration in town.
Coast & Highlands — Sea to Soil
Follow Vietnam’s emerald paddies and coastline south, tasting seafood ports and highland produce before the big-city finish.
Quiet countryside roads, fishing villages, and a seafood feast on the coast.
Travel scenic coastal and rural routes with lunch overlooking lagoons or beach.
In Nha Trang, optional island or city tasting; dinner of spring rolls, squid, crab, and catch-of-the-day at a local institution.
Climb into pine forests and strawberry country; market foraging and French-Vietnamese dining in Dalat.
Optional dawn visit to a fish market before ascending to the Central Highlands.
Explore Dalat’s central market—one of Vietnam’s most fascinating—and dine on highland produce and classic Vietnamese-French plates.
Saigon — Street to Michelin
Big-city energy, alleyway legends, and innovative chefs reworking tradition—the perfect finale for a farm-to-pho journey.
Ben Thanh and alley tastings, colonial landmarks, fine dining, and farewell street-food celebration.
Transfer to Saigon; explore markets, galleries, and downtown boulevards.
Sample legendary street stalls and a Michelin-minded tasting menu that modernizes classic plates.
Farewell dinner weaving street-stall energy with chef-curated dishes; depart next day or continue to Angkor.
Tour In Detail
Vietnamese is the healthiest, freshest, and innovative cuisine in Asia, and our local culinary guides and guest chefs will lead you to discover and experience its culinary delights, sampling the best pho (soup) in Hanoi on those famous plastic stools, cooking up savory bun cha hands-on—the grilled pork dish Obama snacked on with Bourdain, learning to carve out fresh sweet-and-sour green papaya salad, mastering, ban xeo—the delicious crunchy crepe dipped in sweet sauce, and of course, everyone's favorite—spring rolls of herbs and shrimp wrapped in rice skins.
During your journey, learn the influence of the ocean and the country’s many rivers (including the mighty Mekong) on cuisine and the massive cultivation of rice, witnessed by its endless emerald green paddies. Fish sauce, nuoc mam (fermented fish sauce) is ubiquitous in Vietnamese cooking, and we will visit a factory to learn about its fascinating production. Also learn of the heavy culinary influence of China, especially in methods of preparation and kitchen equipment, and share the concept of the five flavors, a balance of salty, sweet, sour, bitter and hot (spicy).
In addition to local dishes, discover Vietnam’s incredible fine dining venue, where innovative Michelin-starred chefs create modern takes on traditional dishes and also unique fusion plates.
On this ultimate culinary adventure trip, enjoy not only the cultural and natural highlights of Vietnam, but with a deep focus on its incredible cuisine for — as many of our past travelers have said — the experience of a lifetime.
Note: This is only an example itinerary, all of our trips are private and customized to your preferences along with our recommendations.
Vietnam is a country of stunning contrasts, from the busy ancient capital, Hanoi, that recently celebrated it's millennium founding, the vast emerald rice fields that seemingly cover most of the land, to the placid water of Halong Bay, Asia's most striking landscapes, and hundreds of miles of tropical coastline. Yet Vietnam's largest prize are it its people, famously gregarious, warm and endearing.
As Vietnam changes, seemingly week-to-week, we've stayed ahead of the crowds and will craft a trip that showcases on the finest of Vietnam. Our guides and local experts are the most experienced in the country whom you will get to know well before your arrival. Your trip will be carefully monitored from our offices in Hanoi and Hoi An by a dedicated Tour Manager.
Highlights
Four UNESCO World Heritage Sites with private guiding
Meetings with storytellers—pilots, artists, and culinary pioneers
Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, and Saigon at an insider’s pace
Handpicked stays and access beyond the guidebook trail
Route Map
Tour Itinerary
Celebrating a legendary heritage, this private tour packs Vietnam's cultural and natural grandeur into a classic north-to-south arc. Sample days below—your final itinerary is fully customized.
Old Quarter immersion, private meetings, and a Halong Bay cruise among limestone karsts.
Explore Hanoi’s landmarks and living history with specialist guides.
Overnight on Halong Bay with kayaking, floating villages, and bay cuisine.
Imperial citadel and tombs, then the lantern-lit ancient port of Hoi An.
Perfume River culture in Hue; countryside and artisan visits.
Hoi An old town, tailor visits, and rural bicycle or boat options.
Dynamic Saigon with optional Mekong or Cu Chi extensions.
Colonial landmarks, markets, and contemporary arts.
Continue to the Mekong Delta or Angkor as desired.
Vietnam. A name that conjures so many images, both good and bad, authentic and misrepresented. Through private tours and exclusive invites, this classic itinerary celebrates the history behind the name's legend.
Our family tours of Vietnam should be at the top of your list! We can't recommend Vietnam enough, if you can choose only one place to travel in Asia, Vietnam should be your destination. Nowhere on Earth is there a more fascinating and engaging destination, nor people who are among the most exceptional you will ever meet. We've escorted kids of all ages since 1993 organizing biking, kayaking, light trekking, camping out in hilltribe villages, with unique activities such as hands-on rice planting or learning hands-on how to create traditional lacquer guided by a leading artist. Our staff, in fact you'll discover almost all Vietnamese, are "kid crazy" and your children will enjoy one of the most remarkable trips they've ever had.
Highlights
Kayaking calm Halong Bay waters suitable for all ages
Hands-on rice planting, lacquer craft, and water-puppet fun
Living history—from Cu Chi to meetings with veterans
Family-paced cycling and countryside village visits
Route Map
Tour Itinerary
Sample family pacing below—every trip is private and built around your children’s ages and interests.
Kid-friendly Hanoi, water puppets, and a Halong Bay overnight with calm-water kayaking.
Old Quarter cyclo rides, temple visits, and ice cream stops.
Halong cruise with swimming, kayaking, and floating village visits.
Citadel exploration, beach time, cooking, and countryside cycling.
Hue tombs and dragon-boat rides; Hoi An lantern streets and tailor shops.
Family cooking class and optional Junior Iron Chef-style cook-off.
Cu Chi tunnels, Mekong cycling, and big-city energy at a family pace.
Educational Cu Chi visit scaled for kids.
Mekong Delta boat and bike day; farewell dinner in Saigon.
