Essence of Vietnam: Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Halong Bay & Saigon in 7 Days

Traveler Reviews

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  Peter

  July 19th, 2023
  5.0
  Organization and communication was excellent. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. I was surprised to...
  Organization and communication was excellent. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. I was surprised to realize that we would be with different people every day - you might have made that clear in advance. It was fine, but I missed the bonding that can come with meeting new people over a longer period. The trip to minh province was good. Halong Bay (please excuse all my spelling guesses) was a treat, but the travel was slow and tedious, and the food was mediocre. The caves outside HCMC were a high point, the Mekong Delta day was a definite low point. Not really much tourist-worthy, and the execution was poor. Food was bad, transportation was random, the physical demands of climbing in and out of the little boats were not age-appropriate. Also, the hustling for gratuities was tasteless and ugly - we all had a bad taste in our mouth at the end of this day. But we left Viet Nam feeling great about the trip, and it was a good way to do a first-time visit.Show more
  Traveled in July 2023
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  Rebecca

  February 13th, 2023
  5.0
  These 7 days of tours were an excellent way to experience a LOT of Vietnam in a very short period of time. One of...
  These 7 days of tours were an excellent way to experience a LOT of Vietnam in a very short period of time. One of the (many) great things about it was the fantastic communication between us and the organizers, Chloe and Tran. They were incredibly helpful, both before and during the tours. Their English was very good. They consistently checked in, answered questions immediately once we got into their time zone, very promptly when we were 12 hours apart. They had excellent suggestions when asked. Tran helped me maneuver a potential medical issue by helping suggest good hospitals in Ho Chi Minh (turned out to be a non issue ) I am very glad we took extra time on both the Hanoi end of the trip and the Ho Chi Minh end as the days were so packed with adventures we barely had time to explore the cities. I do wish I had more time to be in the cities, especially Hanoi. Would recommend coming a day or two earlier just to get a feel for it. Keep this in mind if you book a short “adventure” tour. You see a LOT of Vietnam in a short period of time but you don’t get a lot of time on your own. I only had 7 days to work with initially and it just wasn’t enough time. For the most part I really appreciated having my days mapped out. I liked being picked up and dropped off at airports and not having to think too hard about it. Our hotels were clean and well located. The tours we went on were run by legit companies. Each tour has new guides, new people so you get to meet a lot of different people. Our Halong Bay boat was beautiful- clean, spacious, nice crew. All of our guides were knowledgeable and informative, particularly with history. The only tour we did not like was the Mekong Delta. The guide was great but the tour itself was way too contrived. Felt like we were on a tourist assembly line and missed out on the amazing history and culture of the region. I highly recommend using TourRadar. You get a really good bang for the buck.Show more
  Traveled in February 2023
  

  Reply from: Vietnam Adventure Tours

  Dear Mrs Rebecca, On behalf of Vietnam Adventure Tours, we would like to thank you for your nice review. It's great to hear that you have a good vacation. We are very honored to serve you and look forward to your continued support in the future. Your trust and confidence in our services are important to us. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again soon. Kindly regards, Travel Consultant Team.

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  Marco

  November 13th, 2022
  5.0
  The tour was well organized, the trips interesting, and the operator always readily available for us. The hotel in Ho...
  The tour was well organized, the trips interesting, and the operator always readily available for us. The hotel in Ho Chi Min was old, but the location was excellent.Show more
  Traveled in November 2022
  

  Reply from: Vietnam Adventure Tours

  Dear Mr Marco, On behalf of Vietnam Adventure Tours, we would like to thank you for your nice review. It's great to hear that you have a good holiday. About the hotel in Saigon, thank you for your feedback. We will talk with the hotel and improve it in the future. We are very honored to serve you and look forward to your continued support in the future. Your trust and confidence in our services are important to us. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again soon. Kindly regards, Travel Consultant Team.

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• C

  Christine

  October 26th, 2022
  4.0
  The tour itself was excellent, however I am giving a 4 star rating because the tour agency would not issue a refund...
  The tour itself was excellent, however I am giving a 4 star rating because the tour agency would not issue a refund for the other person that was supposed to go who was not able to get the visa in time, and there was no refund for the first day missed or an option to change to alternate dates.Show more
  Traveled in October 2022
  

  Reply from: Vietnam Adventure Tours

  Dear mrs Christine Thank you so much for your review. Because your child have a trouble with E-visa in last minutes. We've already arranged all service That is reason why we could not refund for them. Hope to serve you in next time. Kindly regards, Travel Consultant Team.

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• K

  Kara

  October 8th, 2019
  4.5
  Had a great time in Vietnam! Did everything in the itinerary. From moment of arrival to departure, Mr. Jun organized...
  Had a great time in Vietnam! Did everything in the itinerary. From moment of arrival to departure, Mr. Jun organized everything. I would recommend this tour for any first timers to Vietnam. I also went solo, but felt welcomed wherever I went.Show more
  Traveled in September 2019
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  Paul

  April 8th, 2019
  4.0
  The 3 tour guides were excellent, Johny, Cody and Fa. Their english speaking was very good. Ha Long Bay was the best...
  The 3 tour guides were excellent, Johny, Cody and Fa. Their english speaking was very good. Ha Long Bay was the best part of the trip, should have stayed and extra night. Enjoyed the scenery the accommodation and the food. Would have preferred if tea and coffee were included in the price. We were a little disappointed with the hotel locations, very hard to find a place to eat close by The hotel staff were not able to advise where to go. No recommendations. The staff at the Skylark hotel were very friendly. Breakfast was excellent. I would not recommend the Ambassador hotel in Ho Chi Minh city. The breakfast was average but we did enjoy the Pho soup. Room service was poor. On the second day both our rooms were not made up. Reception said they were short staffed which is a poor excuse when international travellers are staying at the hotel . The hotel was not very clean.Show more
  Traveled in April 2019
  

  Reply from: Vietnam Adventure Tours

  Dear Mr Paul Hudson, Thanks for sharing your experience with us, glad to hear you had a great time in Vietnam. For accommodation in Ho chi minh city, we will change to another hotel, we would like to make sure that our customer will be happy to stay there. Hope to see you on another trip with us again soon. Kind regards, Travel Consultant Team.

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• 

  Blazhena

  August 8th, 2018
  4.5
  Our family took the Hanoi and HaLong cruise to Ho Chi Minh 7 days tour. This also included one day in Ninh Binh....
  Our family took the Hanoi and HaLong cruise to Ho Chi Minh 7 days tour. This also included one day in Ninh Binh. Our guide, though very knowledgeable, made us feel as though he was rushing the entire day. He would take us to a site, talk about it for minutes and tell us we had 5 minutes to take pictures and wander around and then off to the next point. This barely gave time to go to the washroom (and with 2 small kids, this was a must). Our group had 8 people, our family was 4 of those 8. I was usually in the middle of the pack with the children and the people in the back, enjoying opportunities for photographs were usually at least 800 meters behind the guide. There were times when he was walking so far ahead we couldn't even see him. Then, when we went on the boat ride in Nihn Binh, he said the boat rides take 1.5-2 hours. When all of our group assembled after 2 hours, he was nowhere to be found for another 30 minutes. He sited "I told you it takes about 2 hours" as his reason for being 30 minutes late in his return. At every stop, he seemed to pride himself on being first to arrive/leave and that we were back in the city early. None of the other patrons tipped him. The guide we had the next day to Ha Long Bay was wonderful. The cruise and food were amazing. All the crew were very accommodating of our family's needs and supporting the children's eating habits well. My only complaint was that there was too much food! Another issue was that the boat that we were on was no where nearly as beautiful as the boat pictured on the website. My husband, who works as a director, who is trying to get a cruise company as a client, was very disappointed that the boat was not similar to the one pictured. Our guide in Ho Chi Minh who took us to the Cu Chi tunnels was incredible! He was knowledgeable, fun, accommodating, helpful and a really great guide! His English was excellent! Our guide of the Mekong Delta was very good as well. He was very knowledgeable. He gave us several transportation options during the trip (depending on individual physical needs). His English was very good as well.Show more
  Traveled in July 2018