Vietnam Family Tour in 7 Days: Street Food, Ha Long Bay, and Lantern Lights in Hoi An — Here's What It's Really Like

There is a moment on Ha Long Bay, somewhere between the limestone karsts rising out of the emerald water and the complete silence around you where you forget entirely that you were in Singapore just three days ago.

That is what Vietnam does to you. It doesn't ease you in. It grabs you from Day 1 and doesn't let go until you're back at the airport, already planning the return trip.

This is the story of THK Tour's Vietnam Fun-tastic Family 7D6N, a 7-day journey through Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Bana Hills, and Hoi An. And if you're a Singaporean looking for a holiday that genuinely feels like an escape, not just a change of location, this is the one.

DAY 1 — HANOI: THE CITY THAT FEEDS YOU FIRST

You land in Hanoi and the city hits you immediately. The sounds, the scooters, the smell of broth drifting out of every shopfront.

Your first evening is a street food tour, and this is not a curated, sanitised food walk. This is Hanoi the way locals eat it. Bun cha — grilled pork with cold noodles and dipping broth eaten on a plastic stool at the side of a narrow alley. Banh mi with more fillings than you thought possible. Egg coffee, which sounds strange and tastes extraordinary.

Hanoi's Old Quarter at night is one of those rare travel experiences that reminds you why you leave home. Narrow streets lit by lanterns, vendors calling out, the smell of street food mixing with incense from a temple three doors down. Walk slowly. Eat everything.

DAY 2 — NINH BINH: VIETNAM FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE

Most people skip Ninh Binh. That is their loss.

A day trip from Hanoi takes you to what many call Ha Long Bay on land, a landscape of towering limestone peaks rising from rice paddies and river channels. You board a small rowing boat and your guide often a local woman rowing with her feet takes you through caves and past scenery that feels entirely removed from the modern world.

Breakfast and lunch are included. The pace is slow. By the time you return to Hanoi in the evening, you will feel like you have already had a complete holiday and you are only on Day 2.

DAY 3 — THE JOURNEY TO HA LONG BAY

The drive from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay takes you through the Vietnamese countryside rice fields, roadside villages, the occasional water buffalo. It is a journey worth being awake for.

Then you arrive. And nothing quite prepares you for Ha Long Bay.

2,000 limestone islands jutting out of jade-green water. Fishing villages floating on the surface. Caves carved over millions of years hidden inside cliffs. The scale of it is genuinely hard to process. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included today, because once you're on the water, you won't want to leave for anything.

Spend the evening on deck. If the sky is clear, the stars over Ha Long Bay are something most Singaporeans have never seen.

DAY 4 — HA LONG BAY TO DA NANG

Your last morning on the bay before the journey south to Da Nang. Brunch is included, eat well, then board your transfer.

Da Nang is Vietnam's third largest city and it carries itself with a quiet confidence. Wide beaches. A growing food scene. The iconic Dragon Bridge which breathes actual fire on weekends. You arrive with the rest of the day free, which is exactly what you need after the sensory intensity of Ha Long Bay.

DAY 5 — BANA HILLS: THE FRENCH VILLAGE IN THE CLOUDS

If you have seen the photo of two giant stone hands holding a golden bridge above the clouds this is where it is taken.

Bana Hills sits 1,487 metres above sea level. The Golden Bridge is extraordinary in person. But Bana Hills is more than one photograph. The French village at the summit built during the colonial era — is bizarre and beautiful in equal measure. A European village floating above Vietnamese jungle. It shouldn't make sense. It absolutely works.

Breakfast and lunch included. Wear comfortable shoes. The cable car ride alone one of the longest non-stop single-track cable cars in the world — is worth the trip.

DAY 6 — HOI AN: THE LANTERN CITY

Hoi An is the emotional centrepiece of this trip.

The Ancient Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and unlike many heritage sites, it has not been hollowed out by tourism. It is still a living, breathing town. Tailors who will make you a custom outfit overnight. Restaurants serving Cao Lau, a noodle dish that exists authentically only in Hoi An due to the specific water used to make it. Japanese merchant houses. Chinese temples. French colonial facades. All compressed into a few square kilometres.

But nothing prepares you for the evening. As the sun drops, the electric lights go out and the town is illuminated entirely by silk lanterns thousands of them, in every colour, reflected on the Thu Bon River. Paper lanterns float downstream. The whole town glows.

This is the image you will carry home. Breakfast and lunch included.

DAY 7 — DA NANG TO SINGAPORE

Breakfast included. A final morning before your return flight.

Most people use it to buy one last bánh mì, sit by the Han River with a Vietnamese coffee, and stare at the water for a while. You will understand why when you get there.

Seven days. Six nights. Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Bana Hills, Hoi An.

You will come back different. Not in a dramatic way. Just quieter. Fuller.

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE

This is a fully guided, fully supported group tour. Here is what THK handles for you:

Accommodation on twin or double sharing with daily breakfast. All land transfers by air-conditioned vehicle. All sightseeing entrance tickets as per the itinerary. Meals as indicated across all 7 days — multiple breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. English-speaking guide throughout. Complimentary mineral water on the vehicle.

PRICING

Vietnam Fun-tastic Family 7D6N — joined tour, minimum 20 pax.

Adults and children aged 11 and above: SGD$760/pax. Children aged 5 to 10 with extra bed: SGD$522/pax. Children aged 5 to 10 without extra bed: SGD$469/pax.

Valid 10 March to 16 May 2026.

Note: International airfare, airport taxes, internal flight tickets, Vietnam visa fee, and compulsory guide and driver tipping of USD$4/pax/day are not included.

Seven days in Vietnam sounds like a lot until you're there — and then it feels like it's never enough.

If you're a Singaporean family looking for a holiday that gives you genuine depth and not just a checklist of places visited, this is it. Ha Long Bay alone is worth the trip. Everything else is a bonus.

Book this trip with THK Tour — (sales@thktour.com). Slots are limited and this package requires a minimum of 20 pax, so the earlier your group locks in, the better.