Trip overview
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
Your day-by-day itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Hanoi (45 minutes / 25 km)
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: Full-day Hanoi city tour
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: Hanoi to Halong Bay, overnight cruise (3 hrs / 170 km)
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: Halong Bay cruise to Hanoi (3 hrs / 170 km)
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 Danang, evening in Hoi An (1 hr / 30 km)
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 excursion
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 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 excursion (1.5 hrs / 70 km)
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 excursion (2 hrs / 80 km)
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: Half-day Ho Chi Minh City tour, departure
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
- Accommodation with twin/ double/ triple sharing room basis with daily breakfast in the category chosen or similar (subject to availability).
- Meals as mentioned in the Tour Itinerary.
- Sightseeing & Transfers according to the above Tour Itinerary Details only.
- Transportation by vehicle with A/C
- Local English-speaking guide’s assistance.
- All Entrance fees for attractions included in the program
- All activities and cruises clearly mentioned in the program
- Government taxes & service charge
- Air Fare / Train fare.
- Personal Expenses such as Laundry, telephone calls, tips & gratuity, mineral water, soft & hard drinks, porterage, water sports.
- Early check-in, late check-out
- Additional sightseeing or extra usage of vehicle, other than mentioned in the itinerary.
- Room Up gradation Charges.
- Any cost arising due to natural calamities like, landslides, road blockage, political disturbances (strikes), etc (to be borne by the client, which is directly payable on the spot).
- Travel Insurance.
- Bank Charges
- Tip to Driver & Guide (Compulsory)
- Airport Taxes
- Visa and Visa arrangement
- Anything which is not included in the inclusion.
Not included
- Air Fare / Train fare.
- Personal Expenses such as Laundry, telephone calls, tips & gratuity, mineral water, soft & hard drinks, porterage, water sports.
- Early check-in, late check-out
- Additional sightseeing or extra usage of vehicle, other than mentioned in the itinerary.
- Room Up gradation Charges.
- Any cost arising due to natural calamities like, landslides, road blockage, political disturbances (strikes), etc (to be borne by the client, which is directly payable on the spot).
- Travel Insurance.
- Bank Charges
- Tip to Driver & Guide (Compulsory)
- Airport Taxes
- Visa and Visa arrangement
- Anything which is not included in the inclusion.
Booking this trip
- Days
- 9 nights / 10 days
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