Day 1
Welcome to Hanoi!
6.pm: Meet in the hotel foyer before heading out for a flaming pho cocktail followed by dinner at a local family restaurant. House specialties include crispy fried sticky rice, river fish or buffalo in banana leaf and, for the more adventurous, there is an extensive insect menu!
Day 2
Am: Street Food Tour
Life in Vietnam happens on the streets and there is no better way to start your tour by exploring some of the hidden alley ways of Hanoi.
Eat your way through some of Hanoi’s most famous dishes like pho, bun cha or for the more adventurous, fertilized duck eggs. Finish the tour with a Vietnamese brew of rich sweet coffee with yoghurt or egg in one of Hanoi’s oldest cafes.
Late morning
Visit to the gallery 54 Traditions for insights into Vietnam’s ethnic minorities.
Free time
Pm:
Future Traditions showroom before a pre-dinner drink and dinner on Westlake.
Day 3
Am:
Visit Thai textiles workshop to see and experience their weaving and dyeing.
Free time
A hands-on cooking class at a local chef’s home under Hanoi’s iconic Long Bien Bridge where we will learn about Hanoi’s vibrant culinary traditions.
Day 4
Am:
We will travel to the northern mountains 3 hours outside of Hanoi, home to the Hmong and Thai, two of Vietnam’s diverse ethnic groups.
We will stay in luxury eco-friendly accommodation overlooking the rice paddies.
Free time to explore or go for a swim.
Pm:
Sunset dinner lake cruise and visit to a fish farm.
Day 5
An early start to visit a local ethnic community market.
Indigo Batik (wax resist) Workshop with Hmong artisans. Create your own design.
Return to the hotel with free time until enjoying an in-house dinner.
Day 6
Am:
Return to Hanoi
Free time
or Optional tour to local fashion designers
Pm:
Dinner Bia Hoi A casual evening of street food and beer at
a local outdoor venue. Bia hoi venues are raucous, open-air beer
gardens serving Vietnamese ‘pub grub’. Popular bia hoi items include BBQ pork ribs, buffalo wrapped in betel leaves, and tofu pillows in fragrant tomato sauce.
Day 7
A taste of the Vietnamese countryside when we visit a family farm in Song Phuong Village, an hour outside of Hanoi, for a cooking class and water puppet performance in the traditional lake setting.
Free time
PM
Dinner in a local restaurant
Day 8
AM:
Choose between a cycling tour around Hanoi’s surrounding villages or a visit to art gallery
Free time
Pm
Movable Feast
Start with canapés and champagne in a private home. Then immerse yourself in Hanoi by night as we travel by electric buggies to different fine dining establishments for each different course. You will pass Hanoi landmarks including West Lake’s Tran Quoc Pagoda, Dinh Bien Phu Street with its famous street light illumination, and Hoan Kiem Lake. Continue by electric buggies through the Old Quarter, to our final course at the Hotel Metropole.
Day 9
AM:
Final group breakfast to say hẹn gặp lại !