Hanoi & Halong Bay 4 Days on a Private Boat
A day and a half in the capital, a night by the bay, and six hours on the water in a boat chartered for your group alone, so the pace at Surprise Cave and on the Titop steps is yours to set, not a shared timetable. This is a private day boat — you sleep in hotels, 2 nights in Hanoi and 1 night in Halong City. US$607 per person for 2 travellers in 3-star hotels; larger groups pay less — from US$336 per person for 6–9 travellers.
Price per person
US$607 per person, based on 2 travellers sharing a twin/double room in 3-star hotels, for one private departure. The price per person drops as the group grows, because the vehicle, guide and boat are shared:
Group size | Price per person (3-star) |
|---|---|
2 travellers | US$607 |
3 travellers | US$436 |
4–5 travellers | US$400 |
6–9 travellers | US$336 |
10 or more | Ask us for a quote |
Single room supplement: US$62. Children's prices are in the Age pricing table below. Send us an inquiry or message us on WhatsApp +84 988 660 505 with your dates and we will confirm your price in writing within 24 hours.
Valid for travel until 31 December 2027, except Tet (Lunar New Year), Vietnamese public holidays and the New Year peak, when hotels add surcharges and we requote.
Planning your trip? Read our Vietnam e-visa guide and the best time to visit Vietnam by region and month, or browse all Vietnam tours.
Tour at a glance
| Tour code | WMHNHL2610 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 4 days / 3 nights |
| Type | Private tour — any departure day, private boat for up to 45 guests |
| Route | Hanoi → Ho Chi Minh Complex → Halong City → Private Halong Bay boat (6 hours) → Hanoi |
| Accommodation | 3-star hotels: 2 nights Hanoi, 1 night Halong City |
| Price | US$607 per person (2 travellers, 3-star). Groups of 3+: ask for a lower price |
| Meals | 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches (1 seafood lunch on board), 3 dinners |
| Not included | Flights, visa, travel insurance, drinks, tips |
- Private Transport
- Hiking
- Private Boat
- Shows
- Caves
- Historical sites
Itinerary, day by day
Lakes, pagodas and the Old Quarter, ending at the water puppet theatre.
Your guide and driver meet you in the arrivals hall at Noi Bai International Airport, holding a World Mate Travel sign, and the city tour starts on the drive in. The first stop is Tran Quoc Pagoda on a small island off the eastern shore of West Lake. Its foundations go back to the sixth century, making it the oldest Buddhist site in Hanoi; it was moved to this spit of land in 1615, and the eleven-storey red stupa was added in 1998.
Across town is Hoan Kiem Lake, the Lake of the Returned Sword, named for the legend of Emperor Le Loi handing a magic blade back to a golden turtle after he drove out the Ming in 1428. The red The Huc bridge leads to Ngoc Son Temple on its island. A few streets west stands St Joseph's Cathedral, consecrated in 1886 and modelled on Notre-Dame de Paris. Between the two runs the Old Quarter, the thirty-six streets that still carry the names of the guilds that settled them, and you walk part of it with your guide.
In the evening you see a water puppet performance, an art that began in the flooded rice paddies of the Red River delta around a thousand years ago. The puppeteers stand waist-deep behind a bamboo screen and move the lacquered figures across the water on long poles, to a live band of traditional instruments. Dinner follows at a local restaurant, then check-in at your hotel.
- Transport: Airport transfer + city tour
- Meals: Dinner
- Overnight: Hotel in Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh's Hanoi in the morning, the road to the coast in the afternoon.
After breakfast and check-out you go to Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945. On its western side is his Mausoleum, opened in 1975. Behind it, in the grounds of the old Presidential Palace, is the two-room stilt house he lived and worked in from 1958 until his death in 1969, kept as he left it beside a carp pond. A short walk away is the One Pillar Pagoda, first built by Emperor Ly Thai Tong in 1049 in the shape of a lotus rising from the water on a single column; the present structure is a faithful 1955 rebuild.
The Mausoleum opens in the morning only and is closed on Mondays and Fridays, and for an annual maintenance period of around two months, usually in the autumn. On those days you see it from the square and continue to the stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda as normal. Shoulders and knees must be covered, and no photography is allowed inside.
There is some free time before lunch at a local restaurant, then the expressway east to the coast — about 170 kilometres and two and a half to three hours, with a stop on the way for a break and some shopping. Check in at your hotel in Halong City and rest before dinner.
- Transport: Approx. 3 hours to Halong City
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- Overnight: Hotel in Halong City
Six hours on the water in a boat chartered for your group alone.
Breakfast at the hotel, then a short drive to the harbour, where a boat is waiting for your group alone. Halong Bay was inscribed by UNESCO in 1994 and again in 2000 for its geology, and holds close to 2,000 limestone islands and islets. Because the boat is private, the captain works the route around you, slowing past Dog Rock, Incense Burner Islet (the one printed on the 200,000 dong banknote) and the pair of rocks known as the Fighting Cocks.
Surprise Cave (Sung Sot) sits high on Bo Hon island and is reached by a stairway from the landing. Its three chambers cover some 10,000 square metres and open out one after another, which is where the name comes from. A seafood lunch is served on board as you cruise on to Titop Island, named after the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov, who visited with Ho Chi Minh in 1962. A climb of a little over 400 steps brings you to the summit pavilion and the widest view in this part of the bay; the small beach below is there if you would rather stay at sea level. The last stop is Luon Cave, where a local rower takes you by sampan through a low arch in the rock into an enclosed lagoon, the Moon Lake, ringed by cliffs and quiet apart from the macaques in the trees.
Sailings in Halong Bay are controlled by the harbour authority and are suspended in storms and strong winds, most often between June and October. If the boat cannot sail, we rearrange the day and refund the boat and bay fees. Drinks on board are not included.
Back on the quay in the afternoon, drive back to Hanoi in around two and a half to three hours for dinner at a local restaurant and check-in at your hotel.
- Transport: 6 hours on the boat · approx. 3 hours to Hanoi
- Meals: Breakfast, Seafood lunch on board, Dinner
- Overnight: Hotel in Hanoi
A free morning in Hanoi before your flight.
Breakfast at the hotel, then the morning is yours until check-out, which is before 12:00 noon. At the time agreed with your guide the evening before, your driver collects you from the hotel for the transfer to Noi Bai International Airport and your flight home. Late check-out and extra nights in Hanoi can be arranged on request.
Hotels
The price includes the 3-star hotels below, or an equivalent hotel of the same class if they are full. Upgrades to 4-star or 5-star hotels are available on request.
| Destination | 3-star hotel |
|---|---|
| Hanoi (2 nights) | La Dolce Vita or Anise Hotel Hanoi — Superior Room, or similar |
| Halong City (1 night) | Ha Long Diamond Hotel — Standard Room, or similar |
What's included
Included
Accommodation in 3-star hotels, twin/double share, with daily breakfast (2 nights Hanoi, 1 night Halong City)
All meals as listed in the programme: 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 3 dinners
Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver throughout, including expressway tolls
English-speaking tour guide throughout the programme
Water puppet show and Ho Chi Minh Complex entrance
Private Halong Bay boat for 6 hours with seafood lunch on board, bay entrance and cave fees, and the sampan ride
Two bottles of drinking water per person per day
Government tax, service charge and tour operator liability insurance
Not included
International and domestic airfares and airport departure taxes
Vietnam visa fee and any visa service charges
Personal travel insurance — we strongly recommend cover that includes trip delay and medical repatriation
Personal expenses: laundry, minibar, telephone, and drinks with meals or on the boat
Any meal not listed in the programme
Tips for your guide and driver — customary rates are USD 9 per person per day for 2–3 travellers, USD 5 for 4–9 travellers and USD 3 for groups of 10 or more
Optional excursions and any service not listed under Included
Peak season, festive and Tet surcharges where these apply
Age pricing
| Traveller | Age | Rate per person | Sleeping arrangement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant (parents pay any entrance fees) | 0 to 2 years | No charge | No extra bed |
| Child sharing parents' bed | 3 to 10 years | $413 · 68% of the adult fare | No extra bed |
| Child in own single bed | 3 to 10 years | $522 · 86% of the adult fare | Extra bed |
| Child sharing a twin room with one adult | 3 to 10 years | $607 · 100% of the adult fare | Own bed in a twin room |
| Child 11 and over (adult fare) | 11 years and over | $607 · 100% of the adult fare | As an adult |
Frequently asked questions
No. You spend about 6 hours on Halong Bay on a private day boat, sleeping in a hotel in Halong City the night before and returning to Hanoi the same evening. If you would like to sleep on the bay, we can replace the day boat with an overnight cruise — ask us for a quote.
US$607 per person, based on 2 travellers sharing a twin/double room in 3-star hotels. The price includes 3 nights' accommodation (2 in Hanoi, 1 in Halong City), 8 meals, a private vehicle and driver, an English-speaking guide, the private Halong Bay boat and all entrance fees. Flights are not included. The single room supplement is US$62.
The price per person drops as the group grows, because the vehicle, guide and boat costs are shared: US$607 for 2 travellers, US$436 for 3, US$400 for 4–5 and US$336 for 6–9. The tour stays fully private, and one boat carries up to 45 guests, so your whole group always sails together. For 10 or more travellers, send us your group size and travel dates and we will reply with your price within 24 hours.
Yes. One boat is chartered for your group only, with your own guide on board. The order of the stops can be changed on the day to avoid the busiest times at Surprise Cave, and anyone who would rather not climb the 400-plus steps of Titop Island can stay on the beach or on deck.
Yes. Lunches and dinners are set menus served family-style with rice, soup and several shared dishes. Vegetarian, halal, no-pork, no-beef and allergy requirements are easy to arrange if you tell us when you book.
The harbour authority suspends sailings in storms and strong winds, most often between June and October. If your boat cannot sail, we rearrange the day and refund the boat and bay fees.
Infants aged 0–2 travel free (no extra bed). Children aged 3–10 pay 68% of the adult fare when sharing their parents' bed, 86% with an extra bed, or the full adult fare in their own twin room. From age 11, the full adult fare applies.
Citizens of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Nordic countries, Japan, South Korea and a number of other European countries can enter Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. Most ASEAN citizens get 14 to 30 days. Everyone else, including US, Canadian, Australian and Indian passport holders, applies online for an e-visa (up to 90 days, single or multiple entry) at the official portal evisa.gov.vn, usually issued in about 3 working days. Full list in our Vietnam e-visa guide.
Send an inquiry and we confirm the price in writing within 24 hours. Nothing is charged on this website. To confirm your tour, pay a 30% deposit by bank transfer or by Visa, Mastercard or Amex through a secure OnePay payment link that we email to you. The remaining 70% is due at least 14 days before you arrive. The deposit is non-refundable. If you cancel (in writing) more than 21 days before departure, you lose only the deposit, and any amount paid above it stays valid for 12 months towards another tour. From 7 to 21 days before departure the charge is 50% of the tour price, and within 6 days or for a no-show it is 100%. Groups of more than 8 people, and tours that include flights or Mekong river cruises, have different terms. Full details are in our Terms & Conditions at worldmatetravel.com/terms-and-conditions#cancellation.
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