Vietnam Tour Package from Kochi: Hanoi, Halong Bay and Ninh Binh 7 Days & 6 Nights

The days are planned around the overnight arrivals and late departures that Kochi connections actually run on, so Day 1 is an easy evening by the lake, not a lost day. You can change any of them. Add two nights in Sapa, move up to a 4-star hotel in Hanoi, or add beach nights at the end. If you are comparing other routes and durations, browse all our Vietnam tour packages.

Rs 56,500 per person on twin sharing (was Rs 61,413) covers 3-star hotels, the cruise cabin and its meals, daily breakfast, airport pickup and drop, private transfers, guided sightseeing and entry tickets. Return flights from Kochi are priced separately in the same booking. TravelTriangle has served 3,354+ travellers for Vietnam, and our Vietnam trips are rated 4.4/5 across 955 reviews. You compare quotes from up to 3 verified agents before paying.

Why This Trip Costs Rs 56,500

Cheaper 6-night Vietnam listings usually split the week between Hanoi and Da Nang and treat Halong Bay as a day trip, which means about four hours on the water and close to eight in a van. This package keeps you on the bay overnight in a 3-star cruise cabin, with every meal on board, kayaking in a lagoon and tai chi on deck at sunrise. On land you get five nights two minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake, a private car and English-speaking guide instead of a shared coach, and a full Ninh Binh day with the Hoa Lu entry and the Tam Coc boat already paid.

Highlights

•A night on a Halong Bay cruise, with kayaking among the limestone islands and a cave full of stalactites

•A sampan ride through the three caves of Tam Coc, rowed by a boatwoman using her feet, plus the 10th-century capital at Hoa Lu

•Hanoi's big sights in one guided day: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, Tran Quoc Pagoda and the Temple of Literature

•Five nights in the Old Quarter, two minutes on foot from Hoan Kiem Lake and the weekend walking streets

How You Fly from Kochi (Cochin) to Hanoi

There is no direct flight from Kochi to Hanoi, so every traveller on this trip flies one-stop from Cochin International Airport (COK) into Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) in Hanoi. The connections are short. Most overnight departures from Kochi land in Hanoi between late morning and early afternoon, in time to check in and walk to the lake.

A one-stop return in economy costs about Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 per person in most months, and Rs 40,000 or more over Christmas and New Year. Your agent books the flight that matches your Day 1 pickup, and the same driver meets you whatever time you land. For every route from India, see our guide on how to reach Vietnam.

Day-Wise Itinerary

Day 1: Kochi to Hanoi, Evening at Hoan Kiem Lake

You fly out of Kochi the night before and land at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Our representative meets you at arrivals and drives you about 45 minutes to Centre Point Hanoi Hotel on Hang Hanh Street (or similar), in the middle of the Old Quarter. Check in, shower and rest for the afternoon.

In the evening, walk two minutes to Hoan Kiem Lake and cross the red The Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple, lit up after dark. From Friday evening to Sunday night the roads around the lake close to traffic and fill with families and street-food carts. If you still have energy, the one-hour water puppet show by the lake is a Red River tradition (tickets extra). Dinner tonight is your own.

Day 2: Hanoi City Tour, From the Mausoleum to the Temple of Literature

After breakfast, your guide starts at Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It closes on Mondays and Fridays and for a maintenance period most autumns, and on those days you see it from the square. A short walk away is the One Pillar Pagoda, a small wooden shrine on a single stone column, first built in 1049. Then drive to West Lake for Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi.

After lunch at a local restaurant (your own expense), visit the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, whose garden has full-size stilt houses from the hill tribes. Next is the Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and home of the country's first university. End at Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter, where Hang Gai Street is the place for silk and lacquerware. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi to Halong Bay, Overnight Cruise

Check out after breakfast and drive about 2.5 to 3 hours on the Hanoi to Halong expressway to Tuan Chau Marina, with one rest stop on the way. Board your 3-star overnight cruise (or similar) around noon. Lunch is served, often with fresh seafood, while the boat sails out among the limestone islands of Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the afternoon the boat anchors in a sheltered lagoon. Take a kayak out between the karsts, or swim off the boat when the water is warm enough (roughly April to October). Back on the sundeck, watch the light go orange behind the islands. Dinner is served on board, and you sleep in your cabin at anchor in the bay.

Day 4: Sunrise Tai Chi, a Limestone Cave and Back to Hanoi

Wake early for a tai chi session on the sundeck while the bay is still quiet, then have breakfast. A tender takes you to one of the caves of Halong Bay, where lit paths wind past stalactites and stalagmites in chambers big enough to hold a crowd. Keep your phone ready for the view back over the boats from the cave mouth.

Return to the boat for brunch as it sails back to Tuan Chau, and disembark around 11 a.m. Drive back to Hanoi by mid-afternoon and check in again at your hotel. The evening is free. Try bun cha, grilled pork with noodles, or ask the hotel for a vegetarian place nearby.

Day 5: Ninh Binh Day Trip, Hoa Lu and the Tam Coc Boat Ride

After breakfast, drive about 2 hours south to Ninh Binh. First stop is Hoa Lu, Vietnam's capital in the 10th century, where you visit the temples of the Dinh and Le kings set against the limestone hills. Then continue to Tam Coc for lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch you board a small sampan at Tam Coc. Boatwomen row with their feet along the Ngo Dong River, through three low caves and past rice fields that turn green in spring and gold around late May. The ride takes about 2 hours. Afterwards, take a bicycle along the village lanes between the fields and karsts. If you have the legs for it, Mua Cave nearby has about 500 steps to a view over the whole valley (entry extra). Drive back to Hanoi for the night.

Day 6: Free Day in Hanoi, or Make It Your Own

Today is yours. Sleep in after five busy days, use the hotel spa, or pick one of the things travellers most often add here. A three-hour Old Quarter food walk costs about Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 per person. Bat Trang ceramic village is about 13 km out, and you can throw your own pot. Hanoi's Train Street cafés open and close to visitors by police order, so check with your guide before you go.

For evening shopping, the weekend night market runs north from Hoan Kiem Lake along Hang Dao Street. Prefer one more big day out? Swap this free day for a second Ninh Binh day at Trang An when you book. Sapa is 5 to 6 hours each way by road, so it needs two extra nights, not a free day. Dinner is your own. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 7: Last Morning in Hanoi and Fly Home to Kochi

After breakfast, check out and spend the morning at Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi's largest covered market, for coffee, dried fruit and souvenirs to carry home. Your driver drops you at Noi Bai Airport three hours before your flight.

Most one-stop connections via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Bangkok reach Kochi the same night or early the next morning. Your Vietnam tour ends here.

Inclusions and Exclusions

What a 7-Day Vietnam Trip from Kochi Costs

The package price covers your time in Vietnam. Add these lines for the full amount leaving Kochi.

Two things move this most. Flights are cheapest booked 6 to 8 weeks out outside December, and a 4-star upgrade in Hanoi adds roughly Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 per person for five nights. To book this Vietnam holiday from Kochi, send your travel month and number of travellers, and up to 3 agents quote the package and your flights as one total.

When to Go from Kerala

For month-by-month detail, read our guide to the best time to visit Vietnam.

Know Before You Go

Indian passport holders need an e-visa from evisa.gov.vn, which costs US$25 and usually arrives in 3 to 5 working days. Apply at least two weeks before you fly, and keep a printout for check-in at Kochi. Our Vietnam visa for Indians guide shows each step.

Vietnam uses the dong, at about 300 dong to the rupee. Carry US dollars from Kochi and change them in Hanoi, where rates are better than at the airport. UPI does not work, and street stalls want cash. Check notes before you hand them over, since the blue 20,000 and 500,000 dong notes look alike in a dim stall.

Vegetarians eat well if they say so at booking. The cruise kitchen needs two days' notice for a separate menu, and the lanes around Hoan Kiem Lake have several Indian restaurants. Look for the word chay, meaning vegetarian, and ask for no fish sauce. Our Vietnamese street food guide lists safe vegetarian dishes.

Make It Longer

Have more than a week? Da Nang is about 80 minutes by air from Hanoi. Two or three nights there get you the cable car up Ba Na Hills to the Golden Bridge and a round basket-boat ride through the coconut palms outside Hoi An (see our Da Nang tour packages and Hoi An tour packages). For a beach finish, Phu Quoc has the Hon Thom cable car, which runs nearly 8 km out over the sea to an island beach (Phu Quoc tour packages).

Want the south as well? Ho Chi Minh City puts the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta boat day within easy reach (Ho Chi Minh City tour packages), and the 10-day Vietnam tour covers north and south in one trip. Or add two nights for the rice terraces in our Sapa tour packages. Travelling from elsewhere in Kerala on a longer trip? Our Vietnam tour package from Kerala is built for that. Leaving from another Indian city, try the 7-day Vietnam tour or the 5-day Vietnam tour with airfare.

Edited by TravelTriangle