What this trip is really like
This is the route most people picture when they think of Vietnam, and we run it the way we would for family: pavement breakfasts in Hanoi, a boat we have slept on in Ha Long, an evening in Hoi An after the day-trippers leave, and a delta day at a family orchard instead of a tourist pontoon.
Ten days run from the capital out to the bay for a night on the water, then into the centre for Danang and Hoi An, and finally south to Saigon — the line most first-time visitors follow. Flying the two long sectors, capital to Danang and Danang to Saigon, keeps the driving down, and three nights at each end mean neither city is a blur.
It is not a forced march. The first morning is free, one night is spent afloat, and excursions run to half a day rather than stacking one full day on another. If heritage, a bay cruise and time in two very different cities is what you are after — without adding a beach stay or a third flight — this is the shape of it.
Trip highlights
- A whole day in the capital, from the Mausoleum to the Temple of Literature
- A night aboard on Halong Bay, taking in Sung Sot Cave and Ti Top Island
- The Ba Na Hills cable car and the Golden Bridge
- A walking tour of Hoi An's Ancient Town
- The Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta boat trip
- A half-day tour of Ho Chi Minh City's colonial-era streets
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi, first walk around the lake
Noi Bai International Airport is about 45 minutes from the Old Quarter. What you find is a compact centre dotted with lakes and easy to walk, colonial streets running past temples several centuries old. After check-in the day belongs to you: sleep off the flight, or head straight out into the trading streets.
Day 2 — Hanoi on foot: Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, guild streets
The main sights fill the day — the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature, which served as the country's first university. The Museum of Ethnology follows lunch and sets out the diversity of the country's peoples; then it is back to the Old Quarter for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and the lanes behind it.
Day 3 — To Ha Long Bay, board for the night
Collection is between 8:00 and 8:30am, and the drive out passes paddy fields and villages of the Red River Delta. Aboard a junk built in the traditional style you cruise past Dinh Huong, Ga Choi and Sail Island, with a swim off Ti Top Island. Dinner is served as the sun goes down over the bay, and there is squid fishing for anyone not ready for bed.
Day 4 — Morning on the bay, back to Hanoi
Tai Chi on the sundeck at sunrise is optional; Sung Sot Cave, one of the largest grottoes in the bay, takes about an hour on foot. Brunch is served while the junk makes its way back past Ga Choi and Tortoise islands to Tuan Chau International Passenger Port, where a car is waiting for the drive back.
Day 5 — Fly to Da Nang, Hoi An after dark
You land, check in, and spend the afternoon at the Cham Museum and Marble Mountain before going on to Hoi An for the evening. In the Ancient Town you walk to the Tan Ky old house, the Assembly Hall, the Japanese Covered Bridge, the old wells and the market by the river, then return to Danang.
Day 6 — Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge
One of the most modern cable car systems in Southeast Asia lifts you into the cool air of Ba Na, often called Danang's version of Sa Pa or Da Lat. Up there you find the French Village wine cellar, the Golden Bridge on its two giant stone hands, Linh Ung Pagoda and the rides of Fantasy Park; a second cable car goes on to King Peak at 1,487m, where the view takes in the city and Quang Nam province.
Day 7 — Fly south to Ho Chi Minh City
A short flight south brings you into Tan Son Nhat International Airport, where you are met and driven to your hotel. What is left of the day is free — rest, or start exploring downtown before the programme resumes.
Day 8 — Cu Chi tunnels and a village lunch
Few wartime sites draw more visitors than the Cu Chi Tunnels, dug and used by resistance fighters across decades of conflict. Your guide walks you through parts of the network and explains how it worked and how people lived in it — the sort of detail a display case cannot supply.
Day 9 — Mekong Delta by boat and bicycle
Roughly two hours southwest lies the delta, the country's rice bowl. A boat along the Vam Xep canal reaches a small islet where the walk passes orchards and villages, with stops at a bee farm and at a family workshop making coconut candy. A horse cart and a rowboat under shaded canals finish the day before the drive back.
Day 10 — Saigon's alleys, then the airport
Half a day on foot, your vehicle shadowing you, covers the former Presidential Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Saigon Post Office, Dong Khoi Street, the Continental Hotel and City Hall — the colonial heart of the city. The transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport follows.
What's included
- Your rooms, twin or double with breakfast, in the hotel grade you pick with us — family-run guesthouses where they exist, small hotels elsewhere
- Every meal the day-by-day marks as included; we lean towards places locals eat rather than hotel restaurants
- A guide from the region who speaks English and grew up with the places on the route
- Your own air-conditioned car or minivan with driver for every transfer and touring day
- Entrance fees to every site named in the itinerary
- The boats, cruises and activities written into the plan
- Government taxes and service charges — the quote we send is the amount you pay
Not included
- Flights and trains, international or domestic — we quote these separately so you can see the real cost
- Visa fees and visa arrangements
- Travel insurance, which we ask every guest to carry
- Drinks, laundry, phone calls and anything else personal
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades
- Tips for your guide and driver — customary here, at your discretion
- Extra sightseeing or vehicle use beyond the written plan
- Costs caused by weather, road closures or other events outside anyone's control, settled on the spot
- Bank transfer charges
Book this trip
- Days
- 10 days / 9 nights
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