Vietnam Oasis Tours: Northern Vietnam
Our tours include pick up from, and return to airport, English-speaking tour guides, all admission fees, transportation, meals (including one drink).
Hanoi accommodations will be in the historical five-star Metropole Hotel.
Stays in boats and other cities will be in best superior class available.
You will not have more than ten people in your tour.
If you'd like a private tour for a smaller or larger group, just click the "private tour" radio button on the booking page, and we'll get back to you with rates.
• Tour 1 • On Beautiful Halong Bay (2 days, boat sleepaboard: “Dragon’s Pearl Cruise”)
Halong Bay’s legendary beauty will unfold before your eyes as you explore its glassy blue waters, Karst rock structures, and caves.
Relax aboard our small, intimate boat as we view the formations, and swim (weather permitting).
At night, you’ll enjoy a wonderful sunset dinner on board, sleep in your aircon cabin, and awake to one of Halong’s memorable sunrises.
• Tour 2 • Kayaking Halong Bay (3 days, 2 nights: “Ha Long Bay Ultimate Getaway”)
In addition to everything on our “Beautiful Halong Bay” tour, you’ll take basic kayaking lessons, then take a leisurely guided kayak tour through some of Halong Bay’s most memorable spots.
• Tour 3 • Exploring Ethnic Sapa (2 days, 3 nights: “Sa Pa Light Trek”)
This beautiful country town is close to the villages of some of Vietnam’s most colorful and friendly ethnic groups.
Our tour begins with luxury sleeping and eating accommodations aboard our overnight sleeper train, and an aircon bus or auto to Sapa town.
On the first day, we’ll visit the Black Hmong, who derive their name from the beautiful indigo clothes for which they’re famous.
On day two, we’ll go to Dzay and Red Dzao villages.
You’ll be able to buy clothing directly from the villagers themselves, meeting family members, and contributing directly to the welfare of the village itself.
Tour option: Homestay with villagers
Homestays with villagers are available.
Just ask us, and we’ll give you more details!
• Tour 4 • The Ethnic Marketplace: Exploring the Trading Culture of the Sapa Region (3 days, 4 nights: “The Market Explorer- a Cultural Insight”)
You have to see it for yourself!
Trekking through three mountain market villages, you’ll get a cultural understanding of how ethnic markets contribute to the welfare of mountain communities.
Hmong, Dzo, Giay, Meo, Nung, and Phu La tribespeople actively trade their homemade goods in this area, and we’ll see three of the most significant markets.
You can buy clothing, jewelry, and other fascinating items from the people who make them just as they’ve done for centuries.
Your guide will educate you on the ethnicities you’ll be visiting, explaining their lives, history, and culture.
Your purchases will contribute directly to the families, and you’ll pay much less than you would in Sapa town or Hanoi.
• Tour 5 • Hanoi War Years Tour (1 day)
Images of the AmeriViet War are etched in the memories of millions.
If you weren’t born yet, this tour will introduce you to the main players, and you’ll visit museums documenting people, places, and events.
We’ll get started early with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum.
Here, Ho Chi Minh’s body lies under glass, viewable to all (this museum will not be on the tour from October through December when the body is taken to Russia for maintenance).
Next, we’ll stop at the Vietnam Military History Museum, where focus areas include the French Indochina war, and the AmeriViet war.
Here are lots of photos, some artifacts, and various artillery pieces, bombs, and ephemera.
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The “Hanoi Hilton”, Hoa Lo Prison, was where U.S. pilots shot down over Hanoi were imprisoned from 1964 through 1973.
Here, you’ll see the flight suit worn by Senator John McCain, and numerous exhibits related to Vietnamese political prisoners incarcerated by the French, who opened the prison in 1896.
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The Air Force Museum (Bao Tang Khong Quan) is our next stop, at the brand new exhibit hall, where here and on the grounds, you can see a unique collection of Soviet-era aircraft, including MIGs, recon planes and radar vehicles, and high-design (for the era) choppers.
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The fascinating Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum is our final stop, offering a fascinating look into the inner-workings of the 2000+ km trail that led the North Vietnamese army ultimately into Saigon.
Here, photos document the incredible civil engineering feats, while exhibits show missile guidance systems, weapons, and vehicles used on the trail.
Many weapons used by both sides of the war are on display, including a barrel of “Riot Control Agent CS-1,” used by the U.S. military to clear war tunnels.
• Tour 6 • Spirituality and Spas Tour (1 day)
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• Tour 7 • Contemporary Art History and Galleries Tour (1 day)
Many visitors are shocked to find that Vietnam is among the world leaders in contemporary painting.
In this enlightening tour, we’ll visit the National Museum of Fine Arts, where our guide will tell you how Vietnam’s artists evolved, and you’ll paintings that form the foundation of contemporary Vietnamese painting.
Afterward, we’ll tour three of the most significant art galleries in Hanoi, where you’ll see paintings and prints that range from representational to abstract.
This is not a “tout’s tour!”
Neither Vietnam Oasis nor our guides receive commissions for anything you buy, so you can deal with the galleries with full confidence that you’re getting the lowest price possible.
Galleries will either box your purchase and deliver to your hotel, or will arrange to ship your art home by air freight.
Gallery owners will give you a “cook’s tour” of their galleries.
Best of all, you don’t have to buy anything, and can just come along to view some of the most exciting art in Asia!
