Shore Excursion: Halong Legends, Markets and Sacred Pearl Show (Ha Long Bay)

A private full-day shore excursion covering the city behind the bay, for passengers who have already seen the water.

Most cruise calls at Ha Long put everyone back on a boat. This goes the other way, into the working city of a few hundred thousand people that the pier belongs to, which almost no visitor ever sees.

Quang Ninh Museum is the reason to do it. It is a black glass box on the waterfront by the Spanish architect Salvador Perez Arroyo, and the facade mirrors the bay so completely that the building half disappears into it. Inside it runs from the region's marine geology through the coal-mining history that actually built this city, including a reconstructed mine shaft.

Long Tien Pagoda sits beneath Bai Tho Mountain and is the largest in the city, built in the 1940s in the style of Hanoi's older temples.

The markets are where Ha Long eats, at local prices rather than pier prices, and the Dragon Pearl Cave show closes the day: a performance staged inside a natural limestone cavern, telling the descending-dragon legend that gives the bay its name.

Private transfer from Halong International Port throughout means the timing bends to your ship rather than a group schedule, which on a port call is worth more than it sounds.

Entrance fees to all sites and an English-speaking guide are included.

Your place is held with the operator before your booking is final. The price covers round-trip private transfer from Halong International Port, the guide and all entrance fees.

Eight hours. Minimum one day's notice.