HANOI – HOA LU – PHAT DIEM – TAM COC – HANOI

Meals: Lunch and Dinner at local restaurant

Accommodations: at hotel

Transfer: Private vehicle 

Activities for today:

Depart at 07.30am. Drive to Hoa Lu - The Ancient Capital. Visit to the two remaining temples of Dinh King & Le King. Lunch in a restaurant and continue drive to Phat Diem - the stone church. This cathedral is an architectural complex that combines the traditional pagoda architecture of Vietnam and the Gothic style of Christian architecture. Have dinner at local restaurant and overnight in Ninh binh town.

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+ Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries. Hoa Lư was the native land of the first two imperial dynasties of Vietnam: the Đinh founded by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, and the Early Lê founded by Lê Đại Hành.

+ The Phat Diem Cathedral is located in Kim Sơn District of Ninh Bình Province of Vietnam. The architecture of Phát Diệm church, built in stone in 1892 is a blend of Vietnamese and European architectural styles called the "eclectic architectural style". The Cathedral was bombed on 1972 when its west wall, the convents and two of the schools were damaged; after restoration there are no tell-tale marks of this bombing.

Meals: Breakfast at hotel, Lunch at local restaurant

Transfer: Private vehicle 

Activities for today:

After breakfast, driving towards Tam Coc. Explore country life of Vietnam by passing through villages and rice fields. Visit Bich Dong Pagoda - one of the famous pagoda in Ninh Binh Province. After lunch, sit back and relax whilst a local villager rows a small boat through 3 caves with rice fields and mountain surrounded. Continue biking or driving back to Hanoi via Ninh Binh town. Arrive at your hotel in Hanoi at 17.30 pm.

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+ Tam Coc,"three caves", consists of three natural caves — Hang Cả, Hang Hai, and Hang Ba — on the Ngô Đồng River. Tourists are taken in small boats along the river from the village of Van Lam, through rice fields and limestone karsts, through the caves, and back. The area is nicknamed "the inland Ha Long Bay"

+ Bich Dong is a pagoda complex, built in 1428. It is situated on nearby Ngu Nhac Mountain, and consists of three separate pagodas: Hạ, Trung, and Thượng Pagodas, in ascending order.